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I 


THE   EXPOSITOR'S    BIBLE 


EDITED  BY  THE   REV. 

W.    ROBERTSON    NICOLL,    M.A.,    LL.D. 

Editot  of  "  The  Expositor" 


THE    BOOK    OF    JEREMIAH 

CHAPTERS   XXI.-LII. 

BY 

W.    H.    BENNETT,    M.A. 


NEW  YORK 

A.    C.    ARMSTRONG    AND    SON 

51    EAST    TENTH    STREET 
1895 


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Two  Vols. 


THE 


BOOK     OF    JEREMIAH 


CHAPTERS    XXL— LII. 


W.    H.    BENNETT,    M.A. 

PROFESSOR  OF  OLD  TESTAMENT   LANGUAGES   AND   LITERATURE 
HACKNEY  AND   NEW   COLLEGES 


sf  -  - \\ 


NEW  YORK 

A.    C.    ARMSTRONG    AND    SON 

51    EAST    TENTH    STREET 

1895 


PREFACE 

'T^HE  present  work  deals  primarily  with  Jeremiah 
xxi. — lii.,  thus  forming  a  supplement  to  the 
volume  of  the  Expositor's  Bible  on  Jeremiah  by  the 
Rev.  C.  J.  Ball,  M.A.  References  to  the  earlier 
chapters  are  only  introduced  where  they  are  necessary 
to  illustrate  and  explain  the  later  sections. 

I  regret  that  two  important  works,  Prof.  Skinner's 
Ezekiel  in  this  series,  and  Cornill's  Jeremiah  in 
Dr.  Haupt's  Sacred  Books  of  the  Old  Testament^  were 
published  too  late  to  be  used  in  the  preparation  of 
this  volume. 

I  have  again  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to 
the  Rev.  T.  H.  Darlow,  M.A.,  for  a  careful  reading 
and  much  valuable  criticism  of  my  MS. 


INDEX 


(The  larger  figures  in  black  type  are  the  chief  references.      Passages 
in  i. — XX.  are  only  noticed  by  way  of  ilhtstration  of  later  sections) 


CHAP. 

PAGE  1 

i.  7    .    .    .    .  295  1 

10 

295,  308 

10-12  . 

•  340 

15 

295 

18 

82 

ii.  10,  II 

51 

27 

290 

34 

272 

iii.  14 

352 

15 

324 

iv.  19 

327 

21 

302 

V.  31 

15 

vi.  28 

275 

vii.  4. 

20 

5-9 

272 

12-14 

14 

ix.  II,  X.  2 

-2 

306 

xi.  19 

6 

xii.  14 

323 

xiii.  18 

90 

xiv.  8 

308 

XV.   I 

296 

1-4 

340 

4 

.  202 

CHAP. 

xvi. 


XX. 

xxi. 


15 


XXlll,, 

xxiii. 


14 
I 

23 

4 
15 

2 

l-IO 

3-6 

1-9 

10-12 

13-19 

17 

20-30 

xxiv. 

3-8 

12 

14 
25-27 

25-32 
33,34 
40 


PAGE 

.   6 

•  274 
.  308 
.  320 

.  353 
.  291 
.  272 

.  304 
.  272 
.  141 

•  303 
.  295 

3 
.  63 

.  272 
.  80 
.  S6 
.  319 

299,  302 
.  272 
.  288 
.  340 
■  304 

•  307 
.  99 


INDEX 


CHAP. 

PAGE 

CHAP. 

PAGE 

xxiv.  6,  7 

.  319 

xxxvi. 

.    28 

XXV.    5      . 

.  297 

2      . 

.  298 

9    . 

.  215 

30, 31     • 

.    63 

10     . 

306,  307 

31  . 

•     83,304 

12      . 

•316 

xxxvii.     I -10 

.  141 

15-38.         . 

.  211 

8    . 

•  305 

34-38          . 

.    lOI 

11-21 

.  155 

xxvi. 

.     10 

12    . 

•  309 

3    • 

.  298 

xxxviii. 

.  155 

6    . 

•  307 

xxxix. 

.  172 

xxvii.,  xxviii. 

.  116 

15-18       . 

.  165 

xxvii.     9     . 

.  340 

xl. 

.  172 

xxix. 

.  131 

xli. 

.  172 

8    .         . 

.  340 

xlii.,  xliii. 

.  187 

10      . 

.316 

8-13 

.  220 

4-14 

•  259 

xliv. 

.  197 

23  . 

•  273 

30    . 

220,  229 

XXX.,  xxxi. 

.  319 

xlv. 

.     54 

xxxi.  31-38 

.  346 

xlvi. 

.  220 

xxxii. 

.  308 

25     . 

.  229 

26-35        • 

•  274 

xlvii. 

.  230 

34,  35       • 

.  285 

xlviii. 

.  234 

xxxiii. 

.  319 

xlix.     1-6 

.  242 

xxxiv. 

.  141 

7-22        . 

.  243 

2     . 

•  305 

23-27        . 

.  248 

21     . 

•  304 

28-33        •         . 

.  251 

22      . 

.  30s 

34-39 

.  255 

XXXV. 

.     44 

1.,  li.          .        .        . 

.  258 

15  . 

•  297 

lii. 

.  172 

17  . 

•  304 

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CONTENTS 


PREFACE       . 

INDEX   OF   CHAPTERS    . 

CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE 


PAGE 

V 

vii 
ix 


BOOK    I 

PERSONAL     UTTERANCES    AND 
NARRATIVES 


INTRODUCTORY 


CHAPTER    I 
JEHOAHAZ.      XXii.    10-12 


"  Weep  ye  not  for  the  dead,  neither  bemoan  him :  but 
weep  sore  for  him  that  goeth  away :  for  he  shall  return  no 
more." — xxii.  lO 

CHAPTER    H 

A   TRIAL    FOR    HERESY.      XXvi.  :    cf.  vii. — X.     . 

"  When  Jeremiah  had  made  an  end  of  speaking  all  that 
Jehovah  had  commanded  him  to  speak  unto  all  the  people, 
the  priests  and  the  prophets  and  all  the  people  laid  hold 
on  him,  saying,  Thou  shalt  surely  die." — xxvi,  8 


lO 


CHAPTER    III 
THE    ROLL.       XXXVi 28 

"  Take  thee  a  roll  of  a  book,  and  write  therein  all  the 
words  that  I  have  spoken  unto  thee." — xxxvi.  2 
xiii- 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    IV 

PAGE 

THE    RECHABITES.      XXXV 44 

"Jonadab  the   son  of  Rechab  shall  not  want  a  man  to 
stand  before  Me  for  ever." — xxxv.  19 


CHAPTER    V 

BARUCH.      xlv 54 

"  Thy  life  will  I  give  unto  thee  for  a  prey." — xlv.  5 

CHAPTER    VI 

THE  JUDGMENT  ON  JEHOIAKIM.     XXii.  1 3-I9,  XXXVi.  30,  3 1       63 

"Jehoiakim  .  .  .  slew  him  (Uriah)  with  the  sword, 
and  cast  his  dead  body  into  the  graves  of  the  common 
people." — xxvi.  23 

"Therefore  thus  saith  Jehovah  concerning  Jehoiakim, 
...  He  shall  be  buried  with  the  burial  of  an  ass,  drawn 
and  cast  forth  beyond  the  gates  of  Jerusalem." — xxii.  18,  19 

"Jehoiakim  .  .  .  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight 
of  Jehovah,  according  to  all  that  his  fathers  had  done." — 
2  Kings  xxiii.  36,  37 


CHAPTER    VII 
JEHOIACHIN.      Xxii.  20-30 80 

"  A  despised  broken  vessel." — xxii.  28 

"  A  young  lion.  And  he  went  up  and  down  among  the 
lions,  he  became  a  young  lion  and  he  learned  to  catch 
the  prey,  he  devoured  men." — Ezek.  xix.  5,  6 

"  Jehoiachin  .  .  .  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  Jehovah,  ac- 
cording to  all  that  his  father  had  done."— 2  Kings  xxiv.  8,  9 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    VIII 

PAGE 

BAD   SHEPHERDS   AND    FALSE   PROPHETS.      xxiii.,  Xxiv.    .       96 

"  Woe  unto  the  shepherds  that  destroy  and  scatter  the 
sheep  of  My  pasture  !  " — xxiii.  i 

"Of  what  avail  is  straw  instead  of  grain?  ...  Is  not 
My  word  like  fire,  .  .  .  like  a  hammer  that  shattereth  the 
rocks  ?  " — xxiii.  28,  29 


CHAPTER    IX 

HANANIAH.     xxvii.,  xxviii 115 

"  Hear  now,  Hananiah  ;  Jehovah  hath  not  sent  thee,  but 
thou  makest  this  people  to  trust  in  a  lie." — xxviii.  15 


CHAPTER    X 

CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE   EXILES.       Xxix.  .  •    131 

"Jehovah  make  thee  like   Zedekiah  and    Ahab,   whom 
the  king  of  Babylon  roasted  in  the  fire." — xxix.  22 


CHAPTER    XI 
A    BROKEN    COVENANT.       Xxi.   I-IO,  XXXiv.,  XXXVii.   I-IO    .    I41 

"  All  the  princes  and  people  .  .  .  changed  their  minds 
and  reduced  to  bondage  again  all  the  slaves  whom  they  had 
set  free." — xxxiv.  10,  11 


CHAPTER    XII 

Jeremiah's    imprisonment,      xxxvii.     11-21,  xxxviii., 

xxxix.  15-18  .......   155 

"  Jeremiah  abode  in  the  court  of  the  guard  until  the  day 
that  Jerusalem  was  taken." — xxxviii.  28 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    XIII 

PAGE 

GEDALIAH.      XXxix. — xH.,  Hi. 172 

"Then  arose  Ishmael  ben  Nethaniah,  and  the  ten  men 
that  were  with  him,  and  smote  with  the  sword  and  slew 
Gedaliah  ben  Ahikam  ben  Shaphan,  whom  the  king  of 
Babylon  had  made  king  over  the  land." — xli.  2 


CHAPTER    XIV 

THE   DESCENT   INTO   EGYPT.      xlii.,  xliii.  .  .  .    187 

"They  came  into  the  land  of  Egypt,  for  they  obeyed  not 
the  voice  of  Jehovah." — xliii.  7 

CHAPTER    XV 

THE  QUEEN  OF  HEAVEN.   xHv I97 

"  Since  we  left  off  burning  incense  and  offering  libations 
to  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  we  have  been  in  want  of  every- 
thing, and  have  been  consumed  by  the  sword  and  the 
famine." — xliv.  18 

BOOK    II 

PROPHECIES    CONCERNING    FOREIGN 
NATIONS 

CHAPTER    XVI 

JEHOVAH    AND    THE    NATIONS.      XXV.   15-38     .  .  .211 

"Jehovah  hath  a  controversy  with  the  nations." — xxv.  31 

CHAPTER    XVII 

EGYPT,     xliii.  8-13,  xliv.  30;  xlvi 220 

"  I  will  visit  Amon  of  No,  and  Pharaoh,  and  Egypt,  with 
their  gods  and  their  kings ;  even  Pharaoh,  and  all  them  that 
trust  in  him." — xlvi.  25 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

PAGE 

THE    PHILISTINES.       xlvii.        ......    230 

"  O  sword  of  Jehovah,  how  long  will  it  be  ere  thou  be 
quiet  ?  put  up  thyself  into  thy  scabbard ;  rest,  and  be  still." 
— xlvii.  6 


CHAPTER    XIX 
MOAB.     xlviii 234 

.  "  Moab  shall  be  destroyed  from  being  a  people,  because 
he  hath  magnified  himself  against  Jehovah." — xlviii.  42 

"  Chemosh  said  to  me,  Go,  take  Nebo  against  Israel  .  ,  . 
and  I  took  it  .  .  .  and  I  took  from  it  the  vessels  of  Jehovah, 
and  offered  them  before  Chemosh." — Moabite  Stone. 

"Yet  will  I  bring  again  the  captivity  of  Moab  in  the 
latter  days." — xlviii.  47 

CHAPTER    XX 

AMMON.       xlix.   1-6  ......  .    242 

"  Hath  Israel  no  sons  ?  hath  he  no  heir  ?  why  then 
doth  Moloch  possess  Gad,  and  his  people  dwell  in  the  cities 
thereof?  " — xlix.  i 

CHAPTER    XXI 

EDOM.      xlix.    7-22         , 243 

"  Bozrah  shall  become  an  astonishment,  a  reproach,  a 
waste,  and  a  curse." — xlix.  13 

CHAPTER    XXII 
DAMASCUS.      xlix.   23-27  ......    248 

"  I  will  kindle  a  fire  in  the  wall  of  Damascus,  and  it  shall 
devour  the  palaces  of  Benhadad." — xlix.  27 

b 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

PAGE 

KEDAR    AND    HAZOR.       xlix.  28-33  .  .  .  .    251 

"  Concerning  Kedar,  and  the  kingdoms  of  Hazor  which 
Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon  smote." — xlix.  28 

CHAPTER    XXIV 

ELAM.      xlix.  34-39 255 

"  I  will  break  the  bow  of  Elam,  the  chief  of  their  might." — 
xlix.  35 

CHAPTER    XXV 

BABYLON.       1.,  li 258 

"  Babylon  is  taken,  Bel  is  confounded,  Merodach  is  broken 
in  pieces." — 1.  2 


BOOK    III 

JEREMIAH'S    TEACHING    CONCERNING 
ISRAEL    AND  JUDAH 

CHAPTER    XXVI 
INTRODUCTORY 267 

"  I  will  be  the  God  of  all  the  families  of  Israel,  and  they 
shall  be  My  people." — xxxi.  i 


CHAPTER    XXVII 
SOCIAL    AND    RELIGIOUS   CORRUPTION     .  .  .  .270 

"Very  bad  figs,  ...  too  bad  to  be  eaten."— xxiv.  2,  8, 
xxix.  17 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    XXVIII 

PAGE 

PERSISTENT   APOSTASY.  ......    283 

*'  They  have  forsaken  the  covenant  of  Jehovah  their  God, 
and  worshipped  other  gods,  and  served  them." — xxii.  9 

"  Every  one  that  v^alketh  in  the  stubbornness  of  his  heart." 
xxiii.  17 


CHAPTER    XXIX 
RUIN.     xxii.  1-9,  xxvi.  14 295 

"The  sword,  the  pestilence,  and  the  famine." — xxi.  9  and 
passim. 

"Terror  on  every  side." — vi.  25,  xx.  lo,  xlvi.  5,  xlix.  29; 
also  as  proper  tiame,  MAGOR-MISSABIB,  xx.  3 


CHAPTER    XXX 

RESTORATION 1.    THE    SYMBOL.       XXXii.  .  .  .    308 

"  And  L  bought  the  field  of  Hanameel." — xxxii.  9 

CHAPTER    XXXI 
RESTORATION — II.     THE    NEW    ISRAEL.      Xxiii.    3-8,    xxiv. 

6,  7,  xxx.,  xxxi.,  xxxiii -319 

"  In  those  days  shall  Judah  be  saved,  and  Jerusalem  shall 
dwell  safely  :  and  this  is  the  name  whereby  she  shall  be 
called,  Jehovah  our  Righteousness." — xxxiii.  i6 

CHAPTER    XXXII 

RESTORATION — III.    REUNION.        XXXi 329 

"  I  will  sow  the  house  of  Israel  and  the  house  of  Judah 
with  the  seed  of  man,  and  with  the  seed  of  beast."— xxxi.  27 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    XXXIII 

PAGE 

RESTORATION — IV.    THE    NEW  COVENANT.       XXxi.   31-38  : 

cf.  Hebrews  viii 346 

"  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel 
and  the  house  of  Judah." — xxxi.  31 


CHAPTER    XXXIV 
RESTORATION — V.    REVIEW.       XXX. — XXXiii.     .  .  -357 

EPILOGUE 

CHAPTER    XXXV 

JEREMIAH   AND    CHRIST 367 

"Jehovah  thy  God  will  raise  up  unto  thee  a  prophet  from 
amongst  thee,  of  thy  brethren,  like  unto  me ;  unto  him  shall 
ye  hearken." — Deut.  xviii.  15 

"  Jesus  .  .  .  asked  His  disciples,  saying,  Who  do  men 
say  that  the  Son  of  Man  is  ?  And  they  said,  Some  say 
John  the  Baptist ;  some,  Elijah :  and  others,  Jeremiah,  or 
one  of  the  prophets." — Matt.  xvi.  13,  14 


BOOK   I 

PERSONAL   UTTERANCES  AND  NARRATIVES 


CHAPTER  I 

INTROD UCTOR Y : '  JEHOAHAZ 

xxii.  10-12. 

"Weep  ye  not  for  the  dead,  neither  bemoan  him:  but  weep  sore 
for  him  that  goeth  away :  for  he  shall  return  no  more." — Jer.  xxii.  lo. 

AS  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah  are  not  arranged  in 
the  order  in  which  they  were  delivered,  there  is 
no  absolute  chronological  division  between  the  first 
twenty  chapters  and  those  which  follow.  For  the 
most  part,  however,  chapters  xxi. — lii.  fall  in  or  after 
the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim  (b.c.  605).  We  will  three- 
fore  briefly  consider  the  situation  at  Jerusalem  in  this 
crisis.  The  period  immediately  preceding  b.c.  605 
somewhat  resembles  the  era  of  the  dissolution  of  the 
Roman  Empire  or  of  the  Wars  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. An  old-established  international  system  was 
breaking  in  pieces,  and  men  were  quite  uncertain  what 
form  the  new  order  would  take.  For  centuries  the 
futile  assaults  of  the  Pharaohs  had  only  served  to 
illustrate  the  stability  of  the  Assyrian  supremacy  in 
Western  Asia.  Then  in  the  last  two  decades  of  the 
seventh  century  b.c.  the  Assyrian  Empire  collapsed, 
like  the  Roman  Empire  under  Honorius  and  his  suc- 
cessors. It  was  as  if  by  some  swift  succession  of 
disasters  modern  France  or  Germany  were  to  become 


Cf.  Preface. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


suddenly  and  permanently  annihilated  as  a  military 
power.  For  the  moment,  all  the  traditions  and  prin- 
ciples of  European  statesmanship  would  lose  their  mean- 
ing, and  the  shrewdest  diplomatist  would  be  entirely 
at  fault.  Men's  reason  would  totter,  their  minds  would 
lose  their  balance  at  the  stupendous  spectacle  of  so 
unparalleled  a  catastrophe.  The  wildest  hopes  would 
alternate  with  the  extremity  of  fear  ;  everything  would 
seem  possible  to  the  conqueror. 

Such  was  the  situation  in  B.C.  605,  to  which  our 
first  great  group  of  prophecies  belongs.  Two  oppressors 
of  Israel — Assyria  and  Egypt — had  been  struck  down 
in  rapid  succession.  When  Nebuchadnezzar^  was 
.suddenl}''  recalled  to  Babylon  by  the  death  of  his 
father,  the  Jews  would  readily  imagine  that  the  Divine 
judgment  had  fallen  upon  Chaldea  and  its  king. 
Sanguine  prophets  announced  that  Jehovah  was  about 
to  deliver  His  people  from  all  foreign  dominion,  and 
establish  the  supremacy  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Court 
and  people  would  be  equally  possessed  wnth  patriotic 
hope  and  enthusiasm.  Jehoiakim,  it  is  true,  was  a 
nominee  of  Pharaoh  Necho ;  but  his  gratitude  would 
be  far  too  slight  to  override  the  hopes  and  aspirations 
natural  to  a  Prince  of  the  House  of  David. 

In    Hezekiah's   time,   there   had   been  an    Egyptian 

'  We  know  little  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  campaigns.  In  2  Kings 
xxiv.  I  we  are  told  that  Nebuchadnezzar  "  came  up  "  in  the  days  of 
Jehoiakim,  and  Jehoiakim  became  his  servant  three  years.  It  is  not 
clear  whether  Nebuchadnezzar  "came  up"  immediately  after  the 
battle  of  Carchemish,  or  at  a  later  timeafter  his  return  to  Babylon. 
In  either  case  the  impression  made  by  his  hasty  departure  from 
Syria  would  be  the  same.  Cf.  Cheyne,  Jeremiah  (Men  of  the  Bible), 
p.  132.  I  call  the  Chaldean  king  Nebuchadnezzar — not  Nebuchad- 
rezzar— because  the  former  has  been  an  English  household  word  for 
centuries. 


xxii.  IO-I2.]         INTRODUCTORY:  JEHOAHAZ  5 

and  an  Assyrian  party  at  the  court  of  Judah;  the 
recent  supremacy  of  Egypt  had  probably  increased  the 
number  of  her  partisans.  Assyria  had  disappeared,  but 
her  former  adherents  would  retain  their  antipathy  to 
Egypt,  and  their  personal  feuds  with  Jews  of  the 
opposite  faction ;  they  were  as  tools  lying  ready  to 
any  hand  that  cared  to  use  them.  When  Babylon 
succeeded  Assyria  in  the  overlordship  of  Asia,  she 
doubtless  inherited  the  allegiance  of  the  anti-Egyptian 
party  in  the  various  Syrian  states.  Jeremiah,  Hke  Isaiah, 
steadily  opposed  any  dependence  upon  Egypt ;  it  was 
probably  by  his  advice  that  Josiah  undertook  his  ill- 
fated  expedition  against  Pharaoh  Necho.  The  partisans 
of  Egypt  would  be  the  prophet's  enemies ;  and  though^ 
Jeremiah  never  became  a  mere  dependent  and  agent 
of  Nebuchadnezzar,  yet  the  friends  of  Babylon  would 
be  his  friends,  if  only  because  her  enemies  were  his 
enemies. 

We  are  told  in  2  Kings  xxiii.  37  that  Jehoiakim  did 
evil  in  the  sight  of  Jehovah  according  to  all  that  his 
father  had  done.  Whatever  other  sins  may  be  implied 
by  this  condemnation,  we  certainly  learn  that  the  king 
favoured  a  corrupt  form  of  the  religion  of  Jehovah  in 
opposition  to  the  purer  teaching  which  Jeremiah  in- 
herited from  Isaiah. 

When  we  turn  to  Jeremiah  himself,  the  date  "the 
fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim "  reminds  us  that  by  this 
time  the  prophet  could  look  back  upon  a  long  and 
sad  experience ;  he  had  been  called  in  the  thirteenth 
year  of  Josiah,  some  twenty-four  years  before.  With 
what  sometimes  seems  to  our  limited  intelligence  the 
strange  irony  of  Providence,  this  lover  of  peace  and 
quietness  was  called  to  deliver  a  message  of  ruin  and 
condemnation,   a   message    that   could   not    fail    to   be 


THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


extremely  offensive  to  most  of  his  hearers,  and  to  make 
him  the  object  of  bitter  hostility. 

Much  of  this  Jeremiah  must  have  anticipated,  but 
there  were  some  from  whose  position  and  character  the 
prophet  expected  acceptance,  even  of  the  most  unpalat- 
able teaching  of  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah.  The  personal 
vindictiveness  with  which  priests  and  prophets  repaid 
his  loyalty  to  the  Divine  mission  and  his  zeal  for  truth 
came  to  him  with  a  shock  of  surprise  and  bewilder- 
ment, which  was  all  the  greater  because  his  most 
determined  persecutors  were  his  sacerdotal  kinsmen 
and  neighbours  at  Anathoth.  '*  Let  us  destroy  the 
tree,"  they  said,  ^'  with  the  fruit  thereof,  and  let  us 
cut  him  off  from  the  land  of  the  living,  that  his  name 
may  be  no  more  remembered."  ^ 

He  was  not  only  repudiated  by  his  clan,  but  also 
forbidden  by  Jehovah  to  seek  consolation  and  sympathy 
in  the  closer  ties  of  family  life  :  ''  Thou  shalt  not  take 
a  wife,  thou  shalt  have  no  sons  or  daughters."  ^  Like 
Paul,  it  was  good  for  Jeremiah  ''by  reason  of  the 
present  distress  "  to  deny  himself  these  blessings.  He 
found  some  compensation  in  the  fellowship  of  kindred 
souls  at  Jerusalem.  We  can  well  believe  that,  in  those 
early  days,  he  was  acquainted  with  Zephaniah,  and  that 
they  were  associated  with  Hilkiah  and  Shaphan  and 
King  Josiah  in  the  publication  of  Deuteronomy  and  its 
recognition  as  the  law  of  Israel.  Later  on  Shaphan's 
son  Ahikam  protected  Jeremiah  when  his  life  was  in 
imminent  danger. 

The  twelve  years  that  intervened  between  Josiah's 
Reformation  and  his  defeat  at  Megiddo  were  the  happiest 
part  of  Jeremiah's  ministry.     It  is  not  certain  that  any 

*  xi.  19.  2  xvi.  2. 


xxii.  10-12.]        INTRODUCTORY:   JEHOAHAZ  7 

of  the  extant  prophecies  belong  to  this  period.  With 
Josiah  on  the  throne  and  Deuteronomy  accepted  as  the 
standard  of  the  national  life,  the  prophet  felt  absolved 
for  a  season  from  his  mission  to  plucii  up  and  break 
down,  and  perhaps  began  to  indulge  in  hopes  that  the 
time  had  come  to  build  and  to  plant.  Yet  it  is  difficult 
to  believe  that  he  had  implicit  confidence  in  the  per- 
manence of  the  Reformation  or  the  influence  of 
Deuteronomy.  The  silence  of  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  as 
to  the  ecclesiastical  reforms  of  Hezekiah  and  Josiah 
stands  in  glaring  contrast  to  the  great  importance 
attached  to  them  by  the  Books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles. 
But,  in  any  case,  Jeremiah  must  have  found  life  brighter 
and  easier  than  in  the  reigns  that  followed.  Probably, 
in  these  happier  days,  he  was  encouraged  by  the 
sympathy  and  devotion  of  disciples  like  Baruch  and 
Ezekiel. 

But  Josiah's  attempt  to  realise  a  Kingdom  of  God 
was  short-lived ;  and,  in  a  few  months,  Jeremiah  saw 
the  whole  fabric  swept  away.  The  king  was  defeated 
and  slain  ;  and  his  religious  policy  was  at  once  reversed 
either  by  a  popular  revolution  or  a  court  intrigue.  The 
people  of  the  land  made  Josiah's  son  Shallum  king, 
under  the  name  of  Jehoahaz.  This  young  prince  of 
twent3^-three  only  reigned  three  months,  and  was  then 
deposed  and  carried  into  captivity  by  Pharaoh  Necho ; 
yet  it  is  recorded  of  him,  that  he  did  evil  in  the  sight 
of  Jehovah,  according  to  all  that  his  fathers  had  done.^ 
He — or,  more  probably,  his  ministers,  especially  the 
queen-mother^ — must  have  been  in  a  hurry  to  undo 
Josiah's  work.  Jeremiah  utters  no  condemnation  of 
Jehoahaz ;  he  merely  declares  that  the  young  king  will 

^  2  Kings  xxiii.  30-32.  ^  ^f  ^xii.  26. 


THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 


never  return  from  his  exile,  and  bids  the  people  lament 
over  his  captivity  as  a  more  grievous  fate  than  the 
death  of  Josiah  : — 

"Weep  not  for  the  dead, 
Neither  lament  over  him  : 

But  weep  sore  for  him  that  goeth  into  captivity; 
For  he  shall  return  no  more, 
Neither  shall  he  behold  his  native  land." ' 

Ezekiel  adds  admiration  to  sympathy :  Jehoahaz  was 
a  young  lion  skilled  to  catch  the  prey,  he  devoured 
men,  the  nations  heard  of  him,  he  was  taken  in  their 
pit,  and  they  brought  him  with  hooks  into  the  land 
of  Egypt.^  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  could  not  but  feel 
some  tenderness  towards  the  son  of  Josiah ;  and 
probably  they  had  faith  in  his  personal  character,  and 
believed  that  in  time  he  would  shake  off  the  yoke  of 
evil  counsellors  and  follow  in  his  father's  footsteps. 
But  any  such  hopes  were  promptly  disappointed  by 
Pharaoh  Necho,  and  Jeremiah's  spirit  bowed  beneath 
a  new  burden  as  he  saw  his  country  completely  sub- 
servient to  the  dreaded  influence  of  Egypt. 

Thus,  at  the  time  when  we  take  up  the  narrative,  the 
government  was  in  the  hands  of  the  party  hostile  to 
Jeremiah,  and  the  king,  Jehoiakim,  seems  to  have  been 
his  personal  enemy.  Jeremiah  himself  was  somewhere 
between  forty  and  fifty  years  old,  a  solitary  man  without 
wife  or  child.  His  awful  mission  as  the  herald  of  ruin 
clouded  his  spirit  with  inevitable  gloom.  Men  resented 
the  stern  sadness  of  his  words  and  looks,  and  turned 
from  him  with  aversion  and  dislike.  His  unpopularity 
had  made  him  somewhat  harsh  ;  for  intolerance  is  twice 
curst,  in  that  it  inoculates  its  victims  with  the  virus 

'  xxii.  10-I2.  -  Ezek.  xix.  3.  4. 


xxii.  IO-I2.]        INTRODUCTORY:   JEHOAHAZ  g 

of  its  own  bitterness.  His  hopes  and  illusions  lay 
behind  him ;  he  could  only  watch  with  melancholy  pity 
the  eager  excitement  of  these  stirring  times.  If  he 
came  across  some  group  busily  discussing  the  rout 
of  the  Egyptians  at  Carchemish,  or  the  report  that 
Nebuchadnezzar  was  posting  in  hot  haste  to  Bab3^1on, 
and  wondering  as  to  all  that  this  might  mean  for  Judah, 
his  countrymen  would  turn  to  look  with  contemptuous 
curiosity  at  the  bitter,  disappointed  man  who  had  had 
his  chance  and  failed,  and  now  grudged  them  their 
prospect  of  renewed  happiness  and  prosperity.  Never- 
theless Jeremiah's  greatest  work  still  lay  before  him. 
Jerusalem  was  past  saving;  but  more  was  at  stake 
than  the  existence  of  Judah  and  its  capital.  But  for 
Jeremiah  the  religion  of  Jehovah  might  have  perished 
with  His  Chosen  People.  It  was  his  mission  to  save 
Revelation  from  the  wreck  of  Israel.  Humanly  speak- 
ing, the  religious  future  of  the  world  depended  upon 
this  stern  solitary  prophet. 


CHAPTER   II 

A    TRIAL  FOR  HERESY 
xxvi. :  cf.  vii. — x. 

'•  When  Jeremiah  had  made  an  end  of  speaking  all  that  Jehovah 
had  commanded  him  to  speak  unto  all  the  people,  the  priests  and 
the  prophets  and  all  the  people  laid  hold  on  him,  saying,  Thou  shalt 
surely  die." — Jer.  xxvi,  8. 

THE  date  of  this  incident  is  given,  somewhat 
vaguely,  as  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Jehoia- 
kim.  It  was,  therefore,  earlier  than  B.C.  605,  the  point 
reached  in  the  previous  chapter.  Jeremiah  could  offer 
no  political  resistance  to  Jehoiakim  and  his  Egyptian 
suzerain  ;  yet  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  allow  Josiah's 
policy  to  be  reversed  without  a  protest.  Moreover, 
something,  perhaps  much,  might  yet  be  saved  for  Jehovah. 
The  king,  with  his  court  and  prophets  and  priests,  was 
not  everything.  Jeremiah  was  only  concerned  with 
sanctuaries,  ritual,  and  priesthoods  as  means  to  an  end. 
For  him  the  most  important  result  of  the  work  he  had 
shared  with  Josiah  was  a  pure  and  holy  life  for  the 
nation  and  individuals.  Renan — in  some  passages, 
for  he  is  not  always  consistent — is  inclined  to  minimise 
the  significance  of  the  change  from  Josiah  to  Jehoia- 
kim ;  in  fact,  he  writes  very  much  as  a  cavalier  might 
have  done  of  the  change  from  Cromwell  to  Charles  II. 
Both  the  Jewish  kings  worshipped  Jehovah,  each  in 
his   own   fashion :    Josiah   was  inclined   to   a   narrow 


xxvi.]  A    TRIAL  FOR  HERESY  ii 

puritan  severity  of  a  life  ;  Jehoiakim  was  a  liberal, 
practical  man  of  the  world.  Probably  this  is  a  fair 
modern  equivalent  of  the  current  estimate  of  the  kings 
and  their  policy,  especially  on  the  part  of  Jehoiakim's 
friends  ;  but  then,  as  unhappily  still  in  some  quarters, 
"  narrow  puritan  severity  "  was  a  convenient  designation 
for  a  decent  and  honourable  life,  for  a  scrupulous  and 
self-denying  care  for  the  welfare  of  others.  Jeremiah 
dreaded  a  relapse  into  the  old  half-heathen  ideas  that 
Jehovah  would  be  pleased  with  homage  and  service 
that  satisfied  Baal,  Moloch,  and  Chemosh.  Such  a 
relapse  would  lower  the  ethical  standard,  and  corrupt 
or  even  destroy  any  beginnings  of  spiritual  life.  Our 
English  Restoration  is  an  object-lesson  as  to  the  im- 
moral effects  of  political  and  ecclesiastical  reaction  ;  if 
such  things  w^ere  done  in  sober  England,  what  must 
have  been  possible  to  hot  Eastern  blood !  In  pro- 
testing against  the  attitude  of  Jehoiakim,  Jeremiah 
would  also  seek  to  save  the  people  from  the  evil  effects 
of  the  king's  policy.  He  knew  from  his  own  ex- 
perience that  a  subject  might  trust  and  serve  God  with 
his  whole  heart,  even  when  the  king  was  false  to 
Jehovah.  What  was  possible  for  him  was  possible 
for  others.  He  understood  his  countrymen  too  well 
to  expect  that  the  nation  would  continue  to  advance 
in  paths  of  righteousness  which  its  leaders  and  teachers 
had  forsaken  ;  but,  scattered  here  and  there  through 
the  mass  of  the  people,  was  Isaiah's  remnant,  the  seed 
of  the  New  Israel,  men  and  women  to  whom  the 
Revelation  of  Jehovah  had  been  the  beginning  of  a 
higher  life.  He  would  not  leave  them  without  a  word 
of  counsel  and  encouragement. 

At   the   command   of  Jehovah,   Jeremiah    appeared 
before  the  concourse  of  Jews,  assembled  at  the  Temple 


THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


for  some  great  fast  or  festival.  No  feast  is  expressly 
mentioned,  but  he  is  charged  to  address  "  all  the 
cities  of  Judah  "  ^ ;  all  the  outlying  population  would 
only  meet  at  the  Temple  on  some  specially  holy  day. 
Such  an  occasion  would  naturally  be  chosen  by 
Jeremiah  for  his  deliverance,  just  as  Christ  availed 
Himself  of  the  opportunities  offered  by  the  Passover 
and  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  just  as  modern  philan- 
thropists seek  to  find  a  place  for  their  favourite  topics 
on  the  platform  of  May  Meetings. 

The  prophet  was  to  stand  in  the  court  of  the  Temple 
and  repeat  once  more  to  the  Jews  his  message  of 
warning  and  judgment,  "  all  that  I  have  charged  thee 
to  speak  unto  them,  thou  shalt  not  keep  back  a  single 
word."  The  substance  of  this  address  is  found  in  the 
various  prophecies  which  expose  the  sin  and  predict 
the  ruin  of  Judah.  They  have  been  dealt  with  in  the 
former  volume  ^  on  Jeremiah  in  this  series,  and  are  also 
referred  to  in  Book  III. 

According  to  the  universal  principle  of  Hebrew 
prophecy,  the  predictions  of  ruin  were  conditional ; 
they  were  still  coupled  with  the  offer  of  pardon  to  re- 
pentance, and  Jehovah  did  not  forbid  his  prophet  to 
cherish  a  lingering  hope  that  "  perchance  they  may 
hearken  and  turn  every  one  from  his  evil  way,  so  that 
I  may  repent  Me  of  the  evil  I  purpose  to  inflict  upon 
them  because  of  the  evil  of  their  doings."  Probably 
the  phrase  "  every  one  from  his  evil  way  "  is  primarily 

'  The  expression  is  curious ;  it  usually  means  all  the  cities  of  Judah, 
except  Jerusalem  ;  the  LXX.  reading  varies  between  "all  the  Jews  " 
and  "  all  Judah." 

'^  See  especially  the  exposition  of  chaps,  vii. — x.,  which  are  often 
supposed  to  be  a  reproduction  of  Jeremiah's  utterance  on  this 
occasion. 


xxvi.]  A    TRIAL  FOR  HERESY  13 

collective  rather  than  individual,  and  is  intended  to 
describe  a  national  reformation,  which  would  embrace 
all  the  individual  citizens ;  but  the  actual  words  suggest 
another  truth,  which  must  also  have  been  in  Jeremiah's 
mind.  The  nation  is,  after  all,  an  aggregate  of  men 
and  women ;  there  can  be  no  national  reformation, 
except  through  the  repentance  and  amendment  of 
individuals. 

Jeremiah's  audience,  it  must  be  observed,  consisted 
of  worshippers  on  the  way  to  the  Temple,  and  would 
correspond  to  an  ordinary  congregation  of  church- 
goers, rather  than  to  the  casual  crowd  gathered  round 
a  street  preacher,  or  to  the  throngs  of  miners  and 
labourers  who  Hstened  to  Whitfield  and  Wesley,  As 
a:n  acknowledged  prophet,  he  was  well  within  his  rights 
in  expecting  a  hearing  from  the  attendants  at  the  feast, 
and  men  would  be  curious  to  see  and  hear  one  who 
had  been  the  dominant  influence  in  Judah  during  the 
reign  of  Josiah.  Moreover,  in  the  absence  of  evening 
newspapers  and  shop-windows,  a  prophet  was  too 
exciting  a  distraction  to  be  lightly  neglected.  From 
Jehovah's  charge  to  speak  all  that  He  had  commanded 
him  to  speak  and  not  to  keep  back  a  word,  we  may 
assume  that  Jeremiah's  discourse  was  long:  it  was 
also  avowedly  an  old  sermon  ^ ;  most  of  his  audience 
had  heard  it  before,  all  of  them  were  quite  familiar 
with  its  main  topics.  They  listened  in  the  various 
moods  of  a  modern  congregation  ''  sitting  under "  a 
distinguished  preacher.  Jeremiah's  friends  and  dis- 
ciples welcomed  the  ideas  and  phrases  that  had  become 
part  of  their  spiritual  life.  Many  enjoyed  the  speaker's 
earnestness    and    eloquence,    without    troubling    them- 

^  The  Hebrew  apparentl3'  implies  that  the  discourse  was  a  repeti- 
tion of  former  prophecies. 


14  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

selves  about  the  ideas  at  all.  There  was  nothing 
specially  startling  about  the  well-known  threats  and 
warnings  ;  they  had  become 

"A  tale  of  little  meaning  tho'  the  words  were  strong." 

Men  hardened  their  hearts  against  inspired  prophets  as 
easily  as  they  do  against  the  most  pathetic  appeals  of 
modern  evangelists.  Mingled  with  the  crowd  were 
Jeremiah's  professional  rivals,  who  detested  both  him 
and  his  teaching — priests  who  regarded  him  as  a  traitor 
to  his  own  caste,  prophets  who  envied  his  superior 
gifts  and  his  force  of  passionate  feeling.  To  these 
almost  every  word  he  uttered  was  offensive,  but  for 
a  while  there  was  nothing  that  roused  them  to  ver}^ 
vehement  anger.  He  was  allowed  to  finish  what  he 
had  to  say,  "to  make  an  end  of  speaking  all  that 
Jehovah  had  commanded  him."  But  in  this  peroration 
he  had  insisted  on  a  subject  that  stung  the  indifferent 
into  resentment  and  roused  the  priests  and  prophets 
to  fury. 

'*  Go  ye  now  unto  My  place  which  was  in  Shiloh, 
where  I  caused  My  name  to  dwell  at  the  first,  and 
see  what  I  did  to  it  for  the  wickedness  of  My  people 
Israel.  And  now,  because  ye  have  done  all  these 
works,  saith  Jehovah,  and  I  spake  unto  you,  rising  up 
early  and  speaking,  but  ye  heard  not ;  and  I  called 
you,  but  ye  answered  not :  therefore  will  I  do  unto  the 
house,  that  is  called  by  My  name,  wherein  ye  trust, 
and  unto  the  place  which  I  gave  to  you  and  to  your 
fathers,  as  I  have  done  to  Shiloh."^ 

'  vii.  12-14.  Even  if  chaps,  vii. — x.  are  not  a  report  of  Jeremiah's 
discourse  on  this  occasion,  the  few  lines  in  xxvi.  are  evidentl3'  a 
mere  summary,  and  vii.  will  best  indicate  the  substance  of  his 
utterance.     The  verses  quoted  occur  towards  the  beginning  of  vii. — x., 


xxvi.]  A    TRIAL  FOR  HERESY  15 

The  Ephraimite  sanctuary  of  Shiloh,  long  the  home 
of  the  Ark  and  its  priesthood,  had  been  overthrown  in 
some  national  catastrophe.  Apparently  when  it  was 
destroyed  it  was  no  mere  tent,  but  a  substantial  build- 
ing of  stone,  and  its  ruins  remained  as  a  permanent 
monument  of  the  fugitive  glory  of  even  the  most 
sacred  shrine. 

The  very  presence  of  his  audience  in  the  place  where 
they  were  met  showed  their  reverence  for  the  Temple  : 
the  priests  were  naturally  devotees  of  their  own  shrine  ; 
of  the  prophets  Jeremiah  himself  had  said,  ''The 
prophets  prophesy  falsely,  and  the  priests  rule  in 
accordance  v/ith  their  teaching."  ^  Can  we  wonder  that 
*'  the  priests  and  the  prophets  and  all  the  people  laid 
hold  on  him,  saying,  Thou  shalt  surely  die  "  ?  For  the 
moment  there  was  an  appearance  of  religious  unity  in 
Jerusalem ;  the  priests,  the  prophets,  and  the  pious  laity 
on  one  side,  and  only  the  solitary  heretic  on  the  other. 
It  was,  though  on  a  small  scale,  as  if  the  obnoxious 
teaching  of  some  nineteenth-century  prophet  of  God 
had  given  an  unexpected  stimulus  to  the  movement  for 
Christian  reunion  ;  as  if  cardinals  and  bishops,  chair- 
men of  unions,  presidents  of  conferences,  moderators 
of  assemblies,  with  great  preachers  and  distinguished 
laymen,  united  to  hold  monster  meetings  and  denounce 
the  Divine  message  as  heresy  and  blasphemy.  In  hke 
manner  Pharisees,  Sadducees,  and  Herodians  found  a 
basis  of  common  action  in  their  hatred  of  Christ,  and 
Pilate  and  Herod  were  reconciled  by  His  cross. 

but  from  the  emphatic  reference  to  Shiloh  in  the  brief  abstract  in 
xxvi.,    Jeremiah    must  have  dw^elt  on  this  topic,  and  the   fact   that 
the  outburst  followed  his  conclusion  suggests  that  he  reserved  this 
subject  for  his  peroration. 
'  V.  31. 


1 6  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Meanwhile  the  crowd  was  increasing :  new  wor- 
shippers were  arriving,  and  others  as  they  left  the 
Temple  were  attracted  to  the  scene  of  the  disturbance. 
Doubtless  too  the  mob,  always  at  the  service  of  per- 
secutors, hurried  up  in  hope  of  finding  opportunities 
for  mischief  and  violence.  Some  six  and  a  half 
centuries  later,  history  repeated  itself  on  the  same  spot, 
when  the  Asiatic  Jews  saw  Paul  in  the  Temple  and 
"  laid  hands  on  him,  crying  out,  Men  of  Israel,  help  : 
This  is  the  man,  that  teacheth  all  men  everywhere 
against  the  people  and  the  law  and  this  place,  .  .  .  and 
all  the  city  was  moved,  and  the  people  ran  together 
and  laid  hold  on  Paul."  ^ 

Our  narrative,  as  it  stands,  is  apparently  incomplete  : 
we  find  Jeremiah  before  the  tribunal  of  the  princes,  but 
we  are  not  told  how  he  came  there ;  whether  the  civil 
authorities  intervened  to  protect  him,  as  Claudius 
Lysias  came  down  with  his  soldiers  and  centurions  and 
rescued  Paul,  or  whether  Jeremiah's  enemies  observed 
legal  forms,  as  Annas  and  Caiaphas  did  when  they 
arrested  Christ.  But,  in  any  case,  ''  the  princes  of 
Judah,  when  they  heard  these  things,  came  up  from 
the  palace  into  the  Temple,  and  took  their  seats  as 
judges  at  the  entry  of  the  new  gate  of  the  Temple." 
The  "  princes  of  Judah "  play  a  conspicuous  part  in 
the  last  period  of  the  Jewish  monarchy :  we  have  little 
definite  information  about  them,  and  are  left  to  con- 
jecture that  they  were  an  aristocratic  oligarchy  or  an 
official  clique,  or  both  ;  but  it  is  clear  that  they  were 
a  dominant  force  in  the  state,  with  recognised  con- 
stitutional status,  and  that  they  often  controlled  the 
king  himself     We  are  also  ignorant  as  to  the  *'  new 

'  Acts  xxi.  27-30. 


xxvi.]  A    TRIAL  FOR  HERESY  17 

gate "  ;  it  may  possibly  be  the  upper  gate  built  by 
Jotham  ^  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  earlier. 

Before  these  judges,  Jeremiah's  ecclesiastical  accusers 
brought  a  formal  charge ;  they  said,  almost  in  the 
very  words  which  the  high  priest  and  the  Sanhedrin 
used  of  Christ,  ''  This  man  is  worthy  of  death,  for  he 
hath  prophesied  against  this  city,  as  ye  have  heard 
with  your  ears " — i.e.  when  he  said,  **  This  house 
shall  be  like  Shiloh,  and  this  city  shall  be  desolate 
without  inhabitant."  Such  accusations  have  been 
always  on  the  lips  of  those  who  have  denounced  Christ 
and  His  disciples  as  heretics.  One  charge  against 
Himself  was  that  He  said,  ''  I  will  destroy  this  Temple 
that  is  made  with  hands,  and  in  three  days  I  will 
build  another  that  is  made  without  hands."  ^  Stephen 
was  accused  of  speaking  incessantly  against  the  Temple 
and  the  Law,  and  teaching  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  would 
destroy  the  Temple  and  change  the  customs  handed 
down  from  Moses.  When  he  asserted  that  ''  the  Most 
High  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with  hands,"  the 
impatience  of  his  audience  compelled  him  to  bring 
his  defence  to  an  abrupt  conclusion.^  Of  Paul  we 
have  already  spoken. 

How  was  it  that  these  priests  and  prophets  thought 
that  their  princes  might  be  induced  to  condemn  Jere- 
miah to  death  for  predicting  the  destruction  of  the 
Temple  ?  A  prophet  would  not  run  much  risk  nowa- 
days by  announcing  that  St.  Paul's  should  be  made 
like  Stonehenge,  or  St.  Peter's  like  the  Parthenon. 
Expositors  of  Daniel  and  the  Apocalypse  habitually 
fix  the  end  of  the  world  a  few  years  in  advance  of 

'  2  Kings  XV.  35.  ^  Mark  xiv.  58. 

^  Acts  vi.  13,  14,  vii.  48. 

2 


i8  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

the  date  at  which  they  write,  and  yet  they  do  not  incur 
any  appreciable  unpopularity.  It  is  true  that  Jeremiah's 
accusers  were  a  little  afraid  that  his  predictions  might 
be  fulfilled,  and  the  most  bitter  persecutors  are  those 
who  have  a  lurking  dread  that  their  victims  are  right, 
while  they  themselves  are  wrong.  But  such  fears 
could  not  very  well  be  evidence  or  argument  against 
Jeremiah  before  any  court  of  law. 

In  order  to  realise  the  situation  we  must  consider 
the  place  which  the  Temple  held  in  the  hopes  and 
affections  of  the  Jews.  They  had  always  been  proud 
of  their  royal  sanctuary  at  Jerusalem,  but  within  the 
last  hundred  and  fifty  years  it  had  acquired  a  unique 
importance  for  the  religion  of  Israel.  First  Hezekiah, 
and  then  Josiah,  had  taken  away  the  other  high  places 
and  altars  at  which  Jehovah  was  worshipped,  and  had 
said  to  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  ''  Ye  shall  worship  before 
this  altar."  ^  Doubtless  the  kings  were  following  the 
advice  of  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah.  These  prophets  were 
anxious  to  abolish  the  abuses  of  the  local  sanctuaries, 
which  were  a  continual  incentive  to  an  extravagant 
and  corrupt  ritual.  Yet  they  did  not  intend  to  assign 
any  supreme  importance  to  a  priestly  caste  or  a  conse- 
crated building.  Certainly  for  them  the  hope  of  Israel 
and  the  assurance  of  its  salvation  did  not  consist  in 
cedar  and  hewn  stones,  in  silver  and  gold.  And  yet 
the  unique  position  given  to  the  Temple  inevitably 
became  the  starting-point  for  fresh  superstition.  Once 
Jehovah  could  be  worshipped  not  only  at  Jerusalem, 
but  at  Beersheba  and  Bethel  and  many  other  places 
where  He  had  chosen  to  set  His  name.  Even  then, 
it  was  felt  that  the  Divine  Presence  must  afford  some 


'  2  Kings  xviii.  4,  xxiii. ;  Isa.  xxxvi.  7. 


xxvi.]  A    TRIAL  FOR  HERESY  19 

protection  for  His  dwelling-places.  But  now  that 
Jehovah  dwelt  nowhere  else  but  at  Jerusalem,  and 
only  accepted  the  worship  of  His  people  at  this  single 
shrine,  how  could  any  one  doubt  that  He  would  protect 
His  Temple  and  His  Holy  City  against  all  enemies, 
even  the  most  formidable  ?  Had  He  not  done  so 
already  ? 

When  Hezekiah  abolished  the  high  places,  did  not 
Jehovah  set  the  seal  of  approval  upon  his  policy  by 
destroying  the  army  of  Sennacherib?  Was  not  this 
great  deliverance  wrought  to  guard  the  Temple  against 
desecration  and  destruction,  and  would  not  Jehovah 
work  out  a  like  salvation  in  any  future  time  of  danger  ? 
The  destruction  of  Sennacherib  was  essential  to  the 
religious  future  of  Israel  and  of  mankind  ;  but  it  had 
a  very  mingled  influence  upon  the  generations  imme- 
diately following.  They  were  like  a  man  who  has 
won  a  great  prize  in  a  lottery,  or  who  has,  quite 
unexpectedly,  come  into  an  immense  inheritance.  They 
ignored  the  unwelcome  thought  that  the  Divine  pro- 
tection depended  on  spiritual  and  moral  conditions,  and 
they  clung  to  the  superstitious  faith  that  at  any  moment, 
even  in  the  last  extremity  of  danger  and  at  the  eleventh 
hour,  Jehovah  might,  nay,  even  must,  intervene.  The 
priests  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  could  look  on 
with  comparative  composure  while  the  country  was 
ravaged,  and  the  outtying  towns  were  taken  and  pil- 
laged ;  Jerusalem  itself  might  seem  on  the  verge  of 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  but  they  still 
trusted  in  their  Palladium.  Jerusalem  could  not  perish, 
because  it  contained  the  one  sanctuary  of  Jehovah  ; 
they  sought  to  silence  their  own  fears  and  to  drown 
the  warning  voice  of  the  prophet  by  vociferating  their 
watchword  :    **  The  Temple  of  Jehovah !   the   Temple 


20  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


of  Jehovah  I  The  Temple  of  Jehovah  is  in  our 
midst  1 "  ^ 

In  prosperous  times  a  nation  may  forget  its  Palla- 
dium, and  may  tolerate  doubts  as  to  its  efficacy  ;  but 
the  strength  of  the  Jews  was  broken,  their  resources 
were  exhausted,  and  they  were  clinging  in  an  agony  of 
conflicting  hopes  and  fears  to  their  faith  in  the  inviola- 
bility of  the  Temple.  To  destroy  their  confidence  was 
like  snatching  away  a  plank  from  a  drowning  man. 
When  Jeremiah  made  the  attempt,  they  struck  back 
with  the  fierce  energy  of  despair.  It  does  not  seem 
that  at  this  time  the  city  was  in  any  immediate  danger ; 
the  incident  rather  falls  in  the  period  of  quiet  submission 
to  Pharaoh  Necho  that  preceded  the  battle  of  Car- 
chemish.  But  the  disaster  of  Megiddo  was  fresh  in 
men's  memories,  and  in  the  unsettled  state  of  Eastern 
Asia  no  one  knew  how  soon  some  other  invader  might 
advance  against  the  city.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the 
quiet  interval,  hopes  began  to  revive,  and  men  were 
incensed  when  the  prophet  made  haste  to  nip  these 
hopes  in  the  bud,  all  the  more  so  because  their  excited 
anticipations  of  future  glory  had  so  little  solid  basis. 
Jeremiah's  appeal  to  the  ill-omened  precedent  of  Shiloh 
naturally  roused  the  sanguine  and  despondent  alike 
into  frenzy. 

Jeremiah's  defence  was  simple  and  direct :  "  Jehovah 
sent  me  to  prophesy  all  that  ye  have  heard  against  this 
house  and  against  this  city.  Now  therefore  amend 
your  ways  and  your  doings,  and  hearken  unto  the 
voice  of  Jehovah  your  God,  that  He  may  repent  Him 
of  the  evil  that  He  hath  spoken  against  you.  As  for 
me,  behold,  I  am  in  your  hands  :  do  unto  me  as  it  seems 


vii.  4. 


xxvi.]  A    TRIAL  FOR  HERESY  21 

good  and  right  unto  you.  Only  know  assuredly  that, 
if  ye  put  me  to  death,  ye  will  bring  the  guilt  of  innocent 
blood  upon  yourselves,  and  upon  this  city  and  its 
inhabitants :  for  of  a  truth  Jehovah  sent  me  unto  you 
to  speak  all  these  words  in  your  ears."  There  is  one 
curious  feature  in  this  defence.  Jeremiah  contemplates 
the  possibility  of  two  distinct  acts  of  wickedness  on 
the  part  of  his  persecutors :  they  may  turn  a  deaf  ear 
to  his  appeal  that  they  should  repent  and  reform,  and 
their  obstinacy  will  incur  all  the  chastisements  v/hich 
Jeremiah  had  threatened ;  they  may  also  put  him  to 
death  and  incur  additional  guilt.  Scoffers  might  reply 
that  his  previous  threats  were  so  awful  and  compre- 
hensive that  they  left  no  room  for  any  addition  to  the 
punishment  of  the  impenitent.  Sinners  sometimes  find 
a  grim  comfort  in  the  depth  of  their  wickedness  ;  their 
case  is  so  bad  that  it  cannot  be  made  worse,  they  may 
now  indulge  their  evil  propensities  with  a  kind  of 
impunity.  But  Jeremiah's  prophetic  insight  made  him 
anxious  to  save  his  countrymen  from  further  sin,  even 
in  their  impenitence ;  the  Divine  discrimination  is  not 
taxed  beyond  its  capabilities  even  by  the  extremity  of 
human  wickedness. 

But  to  return  to  the  main  feature  in  Jeremiah's 
defence.  His  accusers'  contention  was  that  his  teach- 
ing was  so  utterly  blasphemous,  so  entirely  opposed 
to  every  tradition  and  principle  of  true  religion — or, 
as  we  should  say,  so  much  at  variance  with  all  ortho- 
doxy— that  it  could  not  be  a  word  of  Jehovah.  Jere- 
miah does  not  attempt  to  discuss  the  relation  of  his 
teaching  to  the  possible  limits  of  Jewish  orthodoxy. 
He  bases  his  defence  on  the  bare  assertion  of  his 
prophetic  mission — Jehovah  had  sent  him.  He  assumes 
that  there  is  no  room  for  evidence  or  discussion  ;  it  is 


THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


a  question  of  the  relative  authority  of  Jeremiah  and  his 
accusers,  whether  he  or  they  had  the  better  right  to 
speak  for  God.  .The  immediate  result  seemed  to  justify 
him  in  this  attitude.  He  Was  no  obscure  novice,  seek- 
ing for  the  first  time  to  establish  his  right  to  speak  in 
the  Divine  name.  The  princes  and  people  had  been 
accustomed  for  twenty  years  to  listen  to  him,  as  to  the 
most  fully  acknowledged  mouthpiece  of  Heaven  ;  they 
could  not  shake  off  their  accustomed  feeling  of  deference, 
and  once  more  succumbed  to  the  spell  of  his  fervid  and 
commanding  personaUty.  ''  Then  said  the  princes  and 
all  the  people  unto  the  priests  and  the  prophets,  This 
man  is  not  worthy  of  death  ;  for  he  hath  spoken  to  us 
in  the  name  of  Jehovah  our  God."  For  the  moment 
the  people  were  won  over  and  the  princes  convinced  ; 
but  priests  and  prophets  were  not  so  easily  influenced 
by  inspired  utterances  ;  some  of  these  probably  thought 
that  they  had  an  inspiration  of  their  own,  and  their 
professional  experience  made  them  callous. 

At  this  point  again  the  sequence  of  events  is  not 
clear;  possibly  the  account  was  compiled  from  the 
imperfect  recollections  of  more  than  one  of  the  spec- 
tators. The  pronouncement  of  the  princes  and  the 
people  seems,  at  first  sight,  a  formal  acquittal  that 
should  have  ended  the  trial,  and  left  no  room  for  the 
subsequent  intervention  of  '^certain  of  the  elders," 
otherwise  the  trial  seems  to  have  come  to  no  definite 
conclusion,  and  the  incident  simply  terminated  in  the 
personal  protection  given  to  Jeremiah  by  Ahikam  ben 
Shaphan.  Possibly,  however,  the  tribunal  of  the 
princes  was  not  governed  by  any  strict  rules  of  pro- 
cedure; and  the  force  of  the  argument  used  by  the 
elders  does  not  depend  on  the  exact  stage  of  the  trial 
at  which  it  was  introduced. 


xxvi.]  A    TRIAL  FOR  HERESY  23 

Either  Jeremiah  was  not  entirely  successful  in  his 
attempt  to  get  the  matter  disposed  of  on  the  sole 
ground  of  his  own  prophetic  authority,  or  else  the 
elders  were  anxious  to  secure  weight  and  finality  for 
the  acquittal,  by  bringing  forward  arguments  in  its 
support.  The  elders  were  an  ancient  Israelite  institu- 
tion, and  probably  still  represented  the  patriarchal  side 
of  the  national  life  ;  nothing  is  said  as  to  their  relation 
to  the  princes,  and  this  might  not  be  very  clearly 
defined.  The  elders  appealed,  by  way  of  precedent, 
to  an  otherwise  unrecorded  incident  of  the  reign  of 
Hezekiah.  Micah  the  Morasthite  had  uttered  similar 
threats  against  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple :  "  Zion 
shall  be  ploughed  as  a  field,  and  Jerusalem  shall 
become  heaps,  and  the  mountain  of  the  house  as  the 
high  places  of  the  forest."  ^  But  Hezekiah  and  his 
people,  instead  of  slaying  Micah,  had  repented,  and 
the  city  had  been  spared.  They  evidently  wished 
that  the  precedent  could  be  wholly  followed  in  the 
present  instance ;  but,  at  any  rate,  it  was  clear  that 
one  of  the  most  honoured  and  successful  of  the  kings 
of  Judah  had  accepted  a  threat  against  the  Temple  as 
a  message  from  Jehovah.  Therefore  the  mere  fact  that 
Jeremiah  had  uttered  such  a  threat  was  certainly  not 
prima  facie  evidence  that  he  was  a  false  prophet.  We 
are  not  told  how  this  argument  was  received,  but  the 
writer  of  the  chapter,  possibly  Baruch,  does  not  attri- 
bute Jeremiah's  escape  either  to  his  acquittal  by  the 
princes  or  to  the  reasoning  of  the  elders.  The  people 
apparently  changed  sides  once  more,  like  the  common 
people  in  the  New  Testament,  who  heard  Christ  gladly 

*  Micah  iii.  12.  As  the  quotation  exactly  agrees  with  the  verse 
in  our  extant  Book  of  Micah,  we  may  suppose  that  the  elders  were 
acquainted  with  his  prophecies  in  writing. 


24  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

and  with  equal  enthusiasm  clamoured  for  His  cruci- 
fixion. At  the  end  of  the  chapter  we  find  them  eager 
to  have  the  prophet  delivered  into  their  hands  that  they 
may  put  him  to  death.  Apparently  the  prophets  and 
priests,  having  brought  matters  into  this  satisfactory 
position,  had  retired  from  the  scene  of  action ;  the 
heretic  was  to  be  delivered  over  to  the  secular  arm. 
The  princes,  like  Pilate,  seemed  inclined  to  yield  to 
popular  pressure  ;  but  Ahikam,  a  son  of  the  Shaphan 
who  had  to  do  with  the  finding  of  Deuteronomy,  stood 
by  Jeremiah,  as  John  of  Gaunt  stood  by  Wyclif,  and 
the  Protestant  Princes  by  Luther,  and  the  magistrates 
of  Geneva  by  Calvin  ;  and  Jeremiah  could  say  with  the 
Psalmist : — 

"I  have  heard  the  defaming  of  many, 
Terror  on  every  side : 

While  they  took  counsel  together  against  me, 
They  devised  to  take  away  my  life. 
But  I  trusted  in  Thee,  O  Jehovah : 
I  said.  Thou  art  my  God. 
My  times  are  in  Thy  hand  : 

Deliver  me  from  the  hand  of  mine   enemies,  and  from  them 
that  persecute  me. 

Let  the  lying  lips  be  dumb, 

Which  speak  against  the  righteous  insolently. 

With  pride  and  contempt. 

Oh,  how  great   is   Thy  goodness,  which  Thou   hast   laid   up 

for  them  that  fear  Thee, 
Which   Thou   hast  wrought  for  them  that  put  their  trust  in 

Thee,  before  the  sons  of  men."  • 

We  have  here  an  early  and  rudimentary  example  of 
religious  toleration,  of  the  willingness,  however  reluctant, 

'  Psalm  xxxi.  13-15,  18,  19.  The  Psalm  is  sometimes  ascribed  to 
Jeremiah,  because  it  can  be  so  readily  applied  to  this  incident.  The 
reader  will  recognise  his  characteristic  phrase  "Terror  on  every 
side  "  (Magor-missabib), 


xxvi.]  A    TRIAL  FOR  HERESY  25 

to  hear  as  a  possible  Divine  message  unpalatable  teach- 
ing, at  variance  with  current  theology ;  we  see  too 
the  fountain-head  of  that  freedom  which  since  has 
^*  broadened  down  from  precedent  to  precedent." 

But  unfortunately  no  precedent  can  bind  succeeding 
generations,  and  both  Judaism  and  Christianity  have 
sinned  grievously  against  the  lesson  of  this  chapter. 
Jehoiakim  himself  soon  broke  through  the  feeble  re- 
straint of  this  new-born  tolerance.  The  writer  adds 
an  incident  that  must  have  happened  somewhat  later,^ 
to  show  how  real  was  Jeremiah's  danger,  and  how 
transient  was  the  liberal  mood  of  the  authorities.  A 
certain  Uriah  ben  Shemaiah  of  Kirjath  Jearim  had  the 
courage  to  follow  in  Jeremiah's  footsteps  and  speak 
against  the  city  ''according  to  all  that  Jeremiah  had 
said."  "With  the  usual  meanness  of  persecutors, 
Jehoiakim  and  his  captains  and  princes  vented  upon 
this  obscure  prophet  the  ill-will  which  they  had  not 
dared  to  indulge  in  the  case  of  Jeremiah,  with  his 
commanding  personality  and  influential  friends.  Uriah 
fled  into  Egypt,  but  was  brought  back  and  slain,  and 
his  body  cast  out  unburied  into  the  common  cemetery. 
We  can  understand  Jeremiah's  fierce  and  bitter  in- 
dignation against  the  city  where  such  things  were 
possible. 

This  chapter  is  so  full  of  suggestive  teaching  that 
we  can  only  touch  upon  two  or  three  of  its  more 
obvious  lessons.     The  dogma  which  shaped  the  charge 

^  This  incident  cannot  be  part  of  the  speech  of  the  elders ;  it  would 
only  have  told  against  the  point  they  were  trying  to  make.  The 
various  phases — prophesy,  persecution,  flight,  capture,  and  execu- 
tion— must  have  taken  some  time,  and  can  scarcely  have  pre- 
ceded Jeremiah's  utterance  "  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  King 
Jehoiakim." 


26  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

against  Jeremiah  and  caused  the  martyrdom  of  Uriah 
was  the  inviolabiHty  of  the  Temple  and  the  Holy  City. 
This  dogma  was  a  perversion  of  the  teaching  of  Isaiah, 
and  especially  of  Jeremiah  himself/  which  assigned  a 
unique  position  to  the  Temple  in  the  religion  of  Israel. 
The  carnal  man  shows  a  fatal  ingenuity  in  sucking 
poison  out  of  the  most  wholesome  truth.  He  is  always 
eager  to  discover  that  something  external,  material, 
physical,  concrete — some  building,  organisation,  cere- 
mony, or  form  of  words — is  a  fundamental  basis  of  the 
faith  and  essential  to  salvation.  If  Jeremiah  had  died 
with  Josiah,  the  "  priests  and  prophets  "  would  doubt- 
less have  quoted  his  authority  against  Uriah.  The 
teaching  of  Christ  and  His  apostles,  of  Luther  and 
Calvin  and  their  fellow-reformers,  has  often  been 
twisted  and  forged  into  weapons  to  be  used  against 
their  true  followers.  We  are  often  tempted  in  the 
interest  of  our  favourite  views  to  lay  undue  stress  on 
secondary  and  accidental  statements  of  great  teachers. 
We  fail  to  keep  the  due  proportion  of  truth  which 
they  themselves  observed,  and  in  applying  their  pre- 
cepts to  new  problems  we  sacrifice  the  kernel  and  save 
the  husk.  The  warning  of  Jeremiah's  persecutors 
might  often  **  give  us  pause."  We  need  not  be  sur- 
prised at  finding  priests  and  prophets  eager  and  in- 
terested champions  of  a  perversion  of  revealed  truth. 
Ecclesiastical  office  does  not  necessarily  confer  any 
inspiration  from  above.  The  hereditary  priest  follows 
the  traditions  of  his  caste,  and  even  the  prophet  may 
become  the  mouthpiece  of  the  passions  and  prejudices 
of  those  who  accept  and  applaud  him.  When  men  will 
not   endure  sound  doctrine,  they   heap  to  themselves 

'  Assuming  his  sympathy  with  Deuteronomy. 


xxvi.]  A    TRIAL  FOR  HERESY  27 

teachers  after  their  own  lusts;  having  itching  ears, 
they  turn  away  their  ears  from  the  truth  and  turn  unto 
fables.-^  Jeremiah's  experience  shows  that  even  an 
apparent  consensus  of  clerical  opinion  is  not  always  to 
be  trusted.  The  history  of  councils  and  synods  is 
stained  by  many  foul  and  shameful  blots ;  it  was  the 
(Ecumenical  Council  at  Constance  that  burnt  Huss,  and 
most  Churches  have  found  themselves,  at  some  time 
or  other,  engaged  in  building  the  tombs  of  the  pro- 
phets whom  their  own  officials  had  stoned  in  days 
gone  by.  We  forget  that  Athanasius  contra  mundum 
implies  also  Athanasius  contra  ecclesiam. 

'  2  Tim.  iv.  3. 


CHAPTER    III 

THE  ROLL 


"  Take  thee  a  roll  of  a  book,  and  write  therein  all  the  words  that 
I  have  spoken  unto  thee." — Jer.  xxxvi.  2. 

THE  incidents  which  form  so  large  a  proportion 
of  the  contents  of  our  book  do  not  make  up 
a  connected  narrative ;  they  are  merely  a  series  of 
detached  pictures  :  we  can  only  conjecture  the  doings 
and  experiences  of  Jeremiah  during  the"  intervals. 
Chapter  xxvi.  leaves  him  still  exposed  to  the  persistent 
hostility  of  the  priests  and  prophets,  who  had  appar- 
ently succeeded  in  once  more  directing  popular  feeling 
against  their  antagonist.  At  the  same  time,  though  the 
princes  were  not  ill-disposed  towards  him,  they  were 
not  inclined  to  resist  the  strong  pressure  brought  to 
bear  upon  them.  Probably  the  aftitude  of  the  populace 
varied  from  time  to  time,  according  to  the  presence 
among  them  of  the  friends  or  enemies  of  the  prophet ; 
and,  in  the  same  way,  we  cannot  think  of  ''  the  princes  " 
as  a  united  body,  governed  by  a  single  impulse.  The 
action  of  this  group  of  notables  might  be  determined 
by  the  accidental  preponderance  of  one  or  other  of 
two  opposing  parties.  Jeremiah's  only  real  assurance 
of  safety  lay  in  the  personal  protection  extended  to 
him  by  Ahikam  ben  Shaphan.     Doubtless  other  princes 

28 


THE  ROLL  29 


associated   themselves   with    Ahikam   in    his    friendly 
action  on  behalf  of  the  prophet. 

Under  these  circumstances,  Jeremiah  would  find  it 
necessary  to  restrict  his  activity.  Utter  indifference  to 
danger  was  one  of  the  most  ordinary  characteristics 
of  Hebrew  prophets,  and  Jeremiah  was  certainly  not 
wanting  in  the  desperate  courage  which  may  be  found 
in  any  Mohammedan  dervish.  At  the  same  time  he 
was  far  too  practical,  too  free  from  morbid  self-con- 
sciousness, to  court  martyrdom  for  its  own  sake.  If 
he  had  presented  himself  again  in  the  Temple  when 
it  was  crowded  with  worshippers,  his  life  might  have 
been  taken  in  a  popular  tumult,  while  his  mission  was 
still  only  half  accomplished.  Possibly  his  priestly 
enemies  had  found  means  to  exclude  him  from  the 
sacred  precincts. 

Man's  extremity  was  God's  opportunity  ;  this  tem- 
porary and  partial  silencing  of  Jeremiah  led  to  a  new 
departure,  which  made  the  influence  of  his  teaching 
more  extensive  and  permanent.  He  was  commanded 
to  commit  his  prophecies  to  writing.  The  restriction 
of  his  active  ministry  was  to  bear  rich  fruit,  like  Paul's 
imprisonment,  and  Athanasius'  exile,  and  Luther's 
sojourn  in  the  Wartburg.  A  short  time  since  there 
was  great  danger  that  Jeremiah  and  the  Divine  message 
entrusted  to  him  would  perish  together.  He  did  not 
know  how  soon  he  might  become  once  more  the  mark 
of  popular  fury,  nor  whether  Ahikam  would  still  be 
able  to  protect  him.  The  roll  of  the  book  could  speak 
even  if  he  were  put  to  death. 

But  Jeremiah  was  not  thinking  chiefly  about  what 
would  become  of  his  teaching  if  he  himself  perished. 
He  had  an  immediate  and  particular  end  in  view.  His 
tenacious  persistence   was   not   to   be   baffled  by   the 


30  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

prospect  of  mob  violence,  or  by  exclusion  from  the 
most  favourable  vantage-ground.  Renan  is  fond  of 
comparing  the  prophets  to  modern  journalists ;  and 
this  incident  is  an  early  and  striking  instance  of  the 
substitution  of  pen,  ink,  and  paper  for  the  orator's 
tribune.  Perhaps  the  closest  modern  parallel  is  that 
of  the  speaker  who  is  howled  down  at  a  pubhc  meeting 
and  hands  his  manuscript  to  the  reporters. 

In  the  record  of  the  Divine  command  to  Jeremiah, 
there  is  no  express  statement  as  to  what  was  to  be 
done  with  the  roll;  but  as  the  object  of  writing  it 
was  that  "  perchance  the  house  of  Judah  might  hear 
and  repent,"  it  is  evident  that  from  the  first  it  was 
intended  to  be  read  to  the  people. 

There  is  considerable  difference  of  opinion  ^  as  to 
the  contents  of  the  roll.  They  are  described  as  :  "  All 
that  I  have  spoken  unto  thee  concerning  ^  Jerusalem  ^ 
and  Judah,  and  all  the  nations,  since  I  (first)  spake 
unto  thee,  from  the  time  of  Josiah  until  now."  At  first 
sight  this  would  seem  to  include  all  previous  utterances, 
and  therefore  all  the  extant  prophecies  of  a  date  earlier 
than  B.C.  605,  i.e.  those  contained  in  chapters  i. — xii. 
and  some  portions  of  xiv. — xx.  (we  cannot  determine 
which  with  any  exactness),  and  probably  most  of  those 
dated  in  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim,  i.e.  xxv.  and 
parts  of  xlv. — xlix.  Cheyne,^  however,  holds  that  the 
roll  simply  contained  the  striking  and  comprehensive 
prophecy  in  chapter  xxv.     The  whole  series  of  chapters 

'  See  Cheyne,  Giesebrecht,  Orelli,  etc. 

^  R.V.  "  against."     The  Hebrew  is  ambiguous. 

'  So  Septuagint.  The  Hebrew  text  has  Israel,  which  is  a  less 
accurate  description  of  the  prophecies,  and  is  less  relevant  to  this 
particular  occasion. 

*  Jeremiah  (Men  of  the  Bible),  p.  132. 


rl]  THE  ROLL 


might  very  well  be  described  as  dealing  with  Jerusalem, 
Judah,  and  the  nations;  but  at  the  same  time  xxv. 
might  be  considered  equivalent,  by  way  of  summary, 
to  all  that  had  been  spoken  on  these  subjects.  From 
various  considerations  which  will  appear  as  we  proceed 
with  the  narrative,  it  seems  probable  that  the  larger 
estimate  is  the  more  correct,  i.e.  that  the  roll  contained 
a  large  fraction  of  our  Book  of  Jeremiah,  and  not 
merely  one  or  two  chapters.  We  need  not,  however, 
suppose  that  every  previous  utterance  of  the  prophet, 
even  though  still  extant,  must  have  been  included  in 
the  roll ;  the  "  all "  would  of  course  be  understood  to 
be  conditioned  by  relevancy ;  and  the  narratives  of 
various  incidents  are  obviously  not  part  of  what 
Jehovah  had  spoken. 

Jeremiah  dictated  his  prophecies,  as  St.  Paul  did 
his  epistles,  to  an  amanuensis ;  he  called  his  disciple 
Baruch^  ben  Neriah,  and  dictated  to  him  ''all  that 
Jehovah  had  spoken,  upon  a  book,  in  the  form  of  a 
roll." 

It  seems  clear  that,  as  in  xxvi.,  the  narrative  does  not 
exactly  follow  the  order  of  events,^  and  that  verse  9, 
which  records  the  proclamation  of  a  fast  in  the 
ninth  month  of  Jehoiakim's  fifth  year,  should  be  read 
before  verse  5,  which  begins  the  account  of  the  cir- 
cumstances leading  up  to  the  actual  reading  of  the  roll. 
We  are  not  told  in  what  month  of  Jehoiakim's  fourth 
year  Jeremiah  received  this  command  to  write  his 
prophecies  in  a  roll,  but  as  they  were  not  read  till 
the  ninth  month  of  the  fifth  year,  there  must  have  been 
an  interval  of  at  least  ten  months  or  a  year  between  the 


»  Cf.  Chap.  V.  on  "  Baruch." 

'■^  Verses  5-8  seem  to  be  a  brief  alternative  account  to  9-26. 


32  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Divine  command  and  the  reading  by  Baruch.  We  can 
scarcely  suppose  that  all  or  nearly  all  this  delay  was 
caused  by  Jeremiah  and  Baruch's  waiting  for  a  suitable 
occasion.  The  long  interval  suggests  that  the  dictation 
took  some  time,  and  that  therefore  the  roll  was  some- 
what voluminous  in  its  contents,  and  that  it  was  care- 
fully compiled,  not  without  a  certain  amount  of  revision. 

When  the  manuscript  was  ready,  its  authors  had  to 
determine  the  right  time  at  which  to  read  it ;  they 
found  their  desired  opportunity  in  the  fast  proclaimed 
in  the  ninth  month.  This  was  evidently  an  extraor- 
dinary fast,  appointed  in  view  of  some  pressing  danger ; 
and,  in  the  year  following  the  battle  of  Carchemish, 
this  would  naturally  be  the  advance  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 
As  our  incident  took  place  in  the  depth  of  winter,  the 
months  must  be  reckoned  according  to  the  Babylonian 
year,  which  began  in  April ;  and  the  ninth  month, 
Kisleu,  would  roughly  correspond  to  our  December. 
The  dreaded  invasion  would  be  looked  for  early  in  the 
following  spring,  *'at  the  time  when  kings  go  out  to 
battle."^ 

Jeremiah  does  not  seem  to  have  absolutely  deter- 
mined from  the  first  that  the  reading  of  the  roll  by 
Baruch  was  to  be  a  substitute  for  his  own  presence. 
He  had  probably  hoped  that  some  change  for  the 
better  in  the  situation  might  justify  his  appearance 
before  a  great  gathering  in  the  Temple.  But  when 
the  time  came  he  was  "  hindered  "  ^ — we  are  not  told 
how — and   could  not   go  into   the  Temple.     He   may 

'   I  Chron.  xx.  i. 

2  'ACUR :  A.V.,  R.V.,  "  shut  up  "  ;  R.V.  margin,  "  restrained."  The 
term  is  used  in  xxxiii.  i,  xxxix.  15,  in  the  sense  of  "imprisoned," 
but  here  Jeremiah  appears  to  be  at  Uberty.  The  phrase  'ACCR 
W  AZUBH,  A.V.  "  shut  up  or  left "  (Deut.  xxxii.  36,  etc.),  has  been 


xxxvi.]  THE  ROLL  33 

have  been  restrained  by  his  own  prudence,  or  dissuaded 
by  his  friends,  like  Paul  when  he  would  have  faced  the 
mob  in  the  theatre  at  Ephesus  ;  the  hindrance  ma}^  have 
been  some  ban  under  which  he  had  been  placed  b}^  the 
priesthood,  or  it  may  have  been  some  unexpected  ill- 
ness, or  legal  uncleanness,  or  some  other  passing 
accident,  such  as  Providence  often  uses  to  protect  its 
soldiers  till  their  warfare  is  accomplished. 

Accordingly  it  was  Baruch  who  went  up  to  the 
Temple.  Though  he  is  said  to  have  read  the  book 
"  in  the  ears  of  all  the  people,"  he  does  not  seem  to  have 
challenged  universal  attention  as  openly  as  Jeremiah 
had  done  ;  he  did  not  stand  forth  in  the  court  of  the 
Temple,^  but  betook  himself  to  the  "chamber"  of  the 
scribe,  ^  or  secretary  of  state,  Gemariah  ben  Shaphan, 
the  brother  of  Jeremiah's  protector  Ahikam.  This 
chamber  would  be  one  of  the  cells  built  round  the 
upper  court,  from  which  the  "  new  gate  "  ^  led  into  an 
inner  court  of  the  Temple.  Thus  Baruch  placed  him- 
self formally  under  the  protection  of  the  owner  of  the 
apartment,  and  any  violence  offered  to  him  would  have 
been  resented  and  avenged  by  this  powerful  noble  with 
his  kinsmen  and  allies.  Jeremiah's  disciple  and  repre- 
sentative took  his  seat  at  the  door  of  the  chamber, 
and,    in    full    view    of  the    crowds    who    passed    and 

understood,  those  under  the  restraints  imposed  upon  ceremonial 
uncleanness  and  those  free  from  these  restraints,  i.e.  everybody ; 
the  same  meaning  has  been  given  to  'A  CUR  here. 

'  XX vi.  2. 

^  So  Cheyne  ;  the  Hebrew  does  not  make  it  clear  whether  the  title 
"  scribe  "  refers  to  the  father  or  the  son.  Giesebrecht  understands 
it  of  Shaphan,  who  appears  as  scribe  in  2  Kings  xxii.  8.  He  points 
out  that  in  verse  20  Elishama  is  called  the  scribe,  but  we  cannot 
assume  that  the  title  was  limited  to  a  single  officer  of  state. 

'  Cf.  xxvi.  10. 

3 


34  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

repassed  through  the  new  gate,  opened  his  roll  and 
began  to  read  aloud  from  its  contents.  His  reading 
was  yet  another  repetition  of  the  exhortations,  warnings, 
and  threats  which  Jeremiah  had  rehearsed  on  the 
feast  day  when  he  spake  to  the  people  "all  that 
Jehovah  had  commanded  him  "  ;  and  still  both  Jehovah 
and  His  prophet  promised  deliverance  as  the  reward 
of  repentance.  Evidently  the  head  and  front  of  the 
nation's  offence  had  been  no  open  desertion  of  Jehovah 
for  idols,  else  His  servants  would  not  have  selected  for 
their  audience  His  enthusiastic  worshippers  as  they 
thronged  to  His  Temple.  The  fast  itself  might  have 
seemed  a  token  of  penitence,  but  it  was  not  accepted 
by  Jeremiah,  or  put  forward  by  the  people,  as  a  reason 
why  the  prophecies  of  ruin  should  not  be  fulfilled.  No 
one  offers  the  very  natural  plea  :  "  In  this  fast  we  are 
humbling  ourselves  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God,  we 
are  confessing  our  sins,  and  consecrating  ourselves 
afresh  to  service  of  Jehovah.  What  more  does  He 
expect  of  us  ?  Why  does  He  still  withhold  His  mercy 
and  forgiveness  ?  Wherefore  have  we  fasted,  and 
Thou  seest  not  ?  Wherefore  have  we  afflicted  our 
soul,  and  Thou  takest  no  knowledge  ?  "  Such  a  plea 
would  probably  have  received  an  answer  similar  to  that 
given  by  one  of  Jeremiah's  successors  :  "  Behold,  in  the 
day  of  your  fast  ye  find  your  own  pleasure,  and  oppress 
all  your  labourers.  Behold,  ye  fast  for  strife  and  con- 
j;ention,  and  to  smite  with  the  fist  of  wickedness  :  ye 
fast  not  this  day  so  as  to  make  your  voice  to  be  heard 
on  high.  Is  such  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen  ?  the  day 
for  a  man  to  afQict  his  soul  ?  Is  it  to  bow  down  his 
head  as  a  rush,  and  to  spread  sackcloth  and  ashes 
under  him  ?  wilt  thou  call  this  a  fast,  and  a  day 
acceptable  to  Jehovah  ? 


xxxvi.]  THE  ROLL  35 

"  Is  not  this  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen  ?  to  loose 
the  bonds  of  wickedness,  to  undo  the  bands  of  the 
yoke,  and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  and  that  ye 
break  every  yoke  ?  Is  it  not  to  deal  thy  bread  to  the 
hungry,  and  that  thou  bring  the  poor  that  are  cast  out 
to  thy  house  ?  when  thou  seest  the  naked,  that  thou 
cover  him  ;  and  that  thou  hide  not  thyself  from  thine 
own  flesh  ?  Then  shall  thy  light  break  forth  as  the 
morning,  and  thy  healing  shall  spring  forth  speedily  : 
and  thy  righteousness  shall  go  before  thee ;  the  glory 
of  Jehovah  shall  be  thy  re«*ward."  ^ 

Jeremiah's  opponents  did  not  grudge  Jehovah  His 
burnt-offerings  and  calves  of  a  year  old ;  He  was 
welcome  to  thousands  of  rams,  and  ten  thousands  of 
rivers  of  oil.  They  were  even  willing  to  give  their 
firstborn  for  their  transgression,  the  fruit  of  their  body 
for  the  sin  of  their  soul ;  but  they  were  not  prepared 
'*  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly 
with  their  God."  ^ 

We  are  not  told  how  Jeremiah  and  the  priests  and 
prophets  formulated  the  points  at  issue  between  them, 
which  were  so  thoroughly  and  universally  understood 
that  the  record  takes  them  for  granted.  Possibly 
Jeremiah  contended  for  the  recognition  of  Deuteronomy, 
with  its  lofty  ideals  of  pure  religion  and  a  humanitarian 
order  of  society.  But,  in  any  case,  these  incidents 
were  an  early  phase  of  the  age-long  struggle  of  the 
prophets  of  God  against  the  popular  attempt  to  make 
ritual  and  sensuous  emotion  into  excuses  for  ignoring 
morality,  and  to  offer  the  cheap  sacrifice  of  a  few 
unforbidden  pleasures,  rather  than  surrender  the  greed 
of  grain,  the  lust  of  power,  and  the  sweetness  of 
revenge. 

'   Isa.  Iviii.  3-8.  -  Micah  vi.  6-8. 


36  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

When  the  multitudes  caught  the  sound  of  Baruch's 
voice  and  saw  him  sitting  in  the  doorway  of  Gemariah's 
chamber,  they  knew  exactly  what  they  would  hear. 
To  them  he  was  almost  as  antagonistic  as  a  Protestant 
evangelist  would  be  to  the  worshippers  at  some  great 
Romanist  feast ;  or  perhaps  we  might  find  a  closer 
parallel  in  a  Low  Church  bishop  addressing  a  ritualistic 
audience.  For  the  hearts  of  these  hearers  were  not 
steeled  by  the  consciousness  of  any  formal  schism. 
Baruch  and  the  great  prophet  whom  he  represented 
did  not  stand  outside  the  recognised  limits  of  Divine 
inspiration.  While  the  priests  and  prophets  and  their 
adherents  repudiated  his  teaching  as  heretical,  they 
were  still  haunted  by  the  fear  that,  at  any  rate,  his 
threats  might  have  some  Divine  authority.  Apart  from 
all  theology,  the  prophet  of  evil  always  finds  an  ally  in 
the  nervous  fears  and  guilty  conscience  of  his  hearer. 

The  feelings  of  the  people  would  be  similar  to  those 
with  which  they  had  heard  the  same  threats  against 
Judah,  the  city  and  the  Temple,  from  Jeremiah  himself. 
But  the  excitement  aroused  by  the  defeat  of  Pharaoh 
and  the  hasty  return  of  Nebuchadnezzar  to  Babylon 
had  died  away.  The  imminence  of  a  new  invasion 
made  it  evident  that  this  had  not  been  the  Divine 
deliverance  of  Judah.  The  people  were  cowed  by 
what  must  have  seemed  to  many  the  approaching  ful- 
filments of  former  threatenings ;  the  ritual  of  a  fast 
was  in  itself  depressing ;  so  that  they  had  little  spirit 
to  resent  the  message  of  doom.  Perhaps  too  there  was 
less  to  resent  :  the  prophecies  were  the  same,  but 
Baruch  may  have  been  less  unpopular  than  Jeremiah, 
and  his  reading  would  be  tame  and  ineffective  compared 
to  the  fiery  eloquence  of  his  master.  Moreover  the 
powerful  protection  which  shielded  him  was  indicated 


xxxvi.]  THE  ROLL  37 

not  only  by  the  place  he  occupied,  but  also  by  the 
presence  of  Gemariah's  son,   Micaiah. 

The  reading  passed  off  without  any  hostile  demon- 
stration on  the  part  of  the  people,  and  Micaiah  went  in 
search  of  his  father  to  describe  to  him  the  scene  he 
had  just  witnessed.  He  found  him  in  the  palace,  in 
the  chamber  of  the  secretary  of  state,  Elishama,  attend- 
ing a  council  of  the  princes.  There  were  present, 
amongst  others,  Elnathan  ben  Achbor,  who  brought 
Uriah  back  from  Egypt,  Delaiah  ben  Shemaiah,  and 
Zedekiah  ben  Hananiah.  Micaiah  told  them  what  ht 
had  heard.  They  at  once  sent  for  Baruch  and  the  roll. 
Their  messenger,  Jehudi  ben  Nethaniah,  seems  to  have 
been  a  kind  of  court-usher.  His  name  signifies  "  the 
Jew,"  and  as  his  great-grandfather  was  Cushi,  "  the 
Ethiopian,"  it  has  been  suggested  that  he  came  of  a 
family  of  Ethiopian  descent,  which  had  only  attained  in 
his  generation  to  Jewish  citizenship.-^ 

When  Baruch  arrived,  the  princes  greeted  him  with 
the  courtesy  and  even  deference  due  to  the  favourite 
disciple  of  a  distinguished  prophet.  They  invited  him 
to  sit  down  and  read  them  the  roll.  Baruch  obeyed ; 
the  method  of  reading  suited  the  enclosed  room  and  the 
quiet,  interested  audience  of  responsible  men,  better 
than  the  swaying  crowd  gathered  round  the  door  of 
Gemariah's  chamber.  Baruch  now  had  before  him 
ministers  of  state  who  knew  from  their  official  informa- 
tion and  experience  how  extremely  probable  it  was  that 
the  words  to  which  they  were  listening  would  find  a 
speedy  and  complete  fulfilment.  Baruch  must  almost 
have  seemed  to  them  like  a  doomster  who  announces 
to    a   condemned    criminal    the  ghastly    details  of  his 

'  So  Orelli,  in  loco. 


38  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

coming  execution.  They  exchanged  looks  of  dismay 
and  horror,  and  when  the  reading  was  over,  they  said 
to  one  another,^  *'  We  must  tell  the  king  of  all  these 
words."  First,  however,  they  inquired  concerning  the 
exact  circumstances  under  which  the  roll  had  been 
written,  that  they  might  know  how  far  responsibility 
in  this  matter  was  to  be  divided  between  the  prophet 
and  his  disciple,  and  also  whether  all  the  contents 
rested  upon  the  full  authority  of  Jeremiah.  Baruch 
assured  them  that  it  was  simply  a  case  of  dictation  : 
Jeremiah  had  uttered  every  word  with  his  own  mouth, 
and  he  had  faithfully  written  it  down  ;  everything  was 
Jeremiah's  own.^ 

The  princes  were  well  aware  that  the  prophet's 
action  would  probably  be  resented  and  punished  by 
Jehoiakim.  They  said  to  Baruch :  "  Do  you  and 
Jeremiah  go  and  hide  yourselves,  and  let  no  one  know 
where  you  are."  They  kept  the  roll  and  laid  it  up  in 
Elishama's  room ;  then  they  went  to  the  king.  They 
found  him  in  his  winter  room,  in  the  inner  court  of 
the  palace,  sitting  in  front  of  a  brasier  of  burning 
charcoal.  On  this  fast-day  the  king's  mind  might  well 
be  careful  and  troubled,  as  he  meditated  on  the  kind 
of  treatment  that  he,  the  nominee  of  Pharaoh  Necho, 
was  likely  to  receive  from  Nebuchadnezzar.  We 
cannot  tell  whether  he  contemplated  resistance  or  had 
already  resolved  to  submit  to  the  conqueror.  In  either 
case  he  would  wish  to  act  on  his  own  initiative,  and 
might  be  anxious  lest  a  Chaldean  party  should  get  the 
upper  hand  in  Jerusalem  and  surrender  him  and  the 
city  to  the  invader. 

*  Hebrew  text  "  to  Baruch,"  which  LXX.  omits. 
^  In  verse  i8  the  word  "  with  ink  "  is  not  in  the  LXX.,  and  may  be 
^n  accidental  repetition  of  the  similar  word  for  "  his  mouth." 


xxxvi.]  THE   ROLL  39 

When  the  princes  entered,  their  number  and  their 
manner  would  at  once  indicate  to  him  that  their  errand 
was  both  serious  and  disagreeable.  He  seems  to  have 
listened  in  silence  while  they  made  their  report  of  the 
incident  at  the  door  of  Gemariah's  chamber  and  their 
own  interview  with  Baruch.^  The  king  sent  for  the 
roll  by  Jehudi,  who  had  accompanied  the  princes  into 
the  presence  chamber ;  and  on  his  return  the  same 
serviceable  official  read  its  contents  before  Jehoiakim 
and  the  princes,  whose  number  was  now  augmented 
by  the  nobles  in  attendance  upon  the  king.  Jehudi 
had  had  the  advantage  of  hearing  Baruch  read  the  roll, 
but  ancient  Hebrew  manuscripts  were  not  eas}^  to 
decipher,  and  probably  Jehudi  stumbled  somev/hat ; 
altogether  the  reading  of  prophecies  by  a  court-usher 
would  not  be  a  very  edifying  performance,  or  very 
gratifying  to  Jeremiah's  friends.  Jehoiakim  treated  the 
matter  with  deliberate  and  ostentatious  contempt.  At 
the  end  of  every  three  or  four  columns,^  he  put  out  his 
hand  for  the  roll,  cut  away  the  portion  that  had  been 
read,  and  threw  it  on  the  fire ;  then  he  handed  the 
remainder  back  to  Jehudi,  and  the  reading  was  resumed 
till  the  king  thought  fit  to  repeat  the  process.  It  at 
once  appeared  that  the  audience  was  divided  into  two 
parties.  When  Gemariah's  father,  Shaphan,  had  read 
Deuteronomy  to  Josiah,  the  king  rent  his  clothes  ;  but 
now  the  writer  tells  us,  half  aghast,  that  neither 
Jehoiakim  nor  any  of  his  servants  were  afraid  or  rent 


*  The  A.V.  and  R.V.  "all  the  words"  is  misleading:  it  should 
rather  be  "  everything  " ;  the  princes  did  not  recite  all  the  contents  of 
the  roll. 

-  The  English  tenses  "  cut,"  "  cast,"  are  ambiguous,  but  the  Hebrew 
implies  that  the  "  cutting  "  and  "  casting  on  the  fire"  were  repeated 
again  and  again, 


40  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

their  clothes,  but  the  audience,  including  doubtless  both 
court  officials  and  some  of  the  princes,  looked  on  with 
calm  indifference.  Not  so  the  princes  who  had  been 
present  at  Baruch's  reading  :  they  had  probably  induced 
him  to  leave  the  roll  with  them,  by  promising  that  it 
should  be  kept  safely  ;  they  had  tried  to  keep  it  out 
of  the  king's  hands  by  leaving  it  in  Elishama's  room, 
and  now  they  made  another  attempt  to  save  it  from 
destruction.  They  entreated  Jehoiakim  to  refrain  from 
open  and  insolent  defiance  of  a  prophet  who  might 
after  all  be  speaking  in  the  name  of  Jehovah.  But  the 
king  persevered.  The  alternate  reading  and  burning 
went  on ;  the  unfortunate  usher's  fluency  and  clearness 
would  not  be  improved  by  the  extraordinary  conditions 
under  which  he  had  to  read  ;  and  we  may  well  suppose 
that  the  concluding  columns  were  hurried  over  in  a 
somewhat  perfunctory  fashion,  if  they  were  read  at  all. 
As  soon  as  the  last  shred  of  parchment  was  shrivelling 
on  the  charcoal,  Jehoiakim  commanded  three  of  his 
officers  ^  to  arrest  Jeremiah  and  Baruch.  But  they  had 
taken  the  advice  of  the  princes  and  were  not  to  be 
found:  "Jehovah  hid  them." 

Thus  the  career  of  Baruch's  roll  was  summarily 
cut  short.  But  it  had  done  its  work ;  it  had  been  read 
on  three  separate  occasions,  first  before  the  people, 
then  before  the  princes,  and  last  of  all  before  the  king 
and  his  court.  If  Jeremiah  had  appeared  in  person, 
he  might  have  been  at  once  arrested,  and  put  to  death 
like  Uriah.  No  doubt  this  threefold  recital  was,  on 
the    whole,    a    failure  ;    Jeremiah's    party    among    the 

'  One  is  called  Jerahmcel  the  son  of  Hammelech  (A.V.),  or  *'  the 
king's  son  "  (R.  V.)  ;  if  the  latter  is  correct  we  must  understand  merely 
a  prince  of  the  blood-royal  and  not  a  son  of  Jehoiakim,  who  was  only 
thirty. 


xxxvi.]  THE  ROLL  41 

princes  had  listened  with  anxious  deference,  but  the 
appeal  had  been  received  by  the  people  with  indiffer- 
ence and  by  the  king  with  contempt.  Nevertheless  it 
must  have  strengthened  individuals  in  the  true  faith, 
and  it  had  proclaimed  afresh  that  the  religion  of  Jehovah 
gave  no  sanction  to  the  policy  of  Jehoiakim  :  the  ruin 
of  Judah  would  be  a  proof  of  the  sovereignty  of  Jehovah 
and  not  of  His  impotence.  But  probably  this  incident 
had  more  immediate  influence  over  the  king  than  we 
might  at  first  sight  suppose.  When  Nebuchadnezzar 
arrived  in  Palestine,  Jehoiakim  submitted  to  him,  a 
policy  entirely  in  accordance  with  the  views  of  Jeremiah. 
We  may  well  believe  that  the  experiences  of  this  fast- 
day  had  strengthened  the  hands  of  the  prophet's  friends, 
and  cooled  the  enthusiasm  of  the  court  for  more 
desperate  and  adventurous  courses.  Every  year's 
respite  for  Judah  fostered  the  growth  of  the  true  religion 
of  Jehovah. 

The  sequel  showed  how  much  more  prudent  it  was 
to  risk  the  existence  of  a  roll  rather  than  the  life  of  a 
prophet.  Jeremiah  was  only  encouraged  to  persevere. 
By  the  Divine  command,  he  dictated  his  prophecies 
afresh  to  Baruch,  adding  besides  unto  them  many  like 
words.  Possibly  other  copies  were  made  of  the  whole 
or  parts  of  this  roil,  and  were  secretly  circulated,  read, 
and  talked  about.  We  are  not  told  whether  Jehoiakim 
ever  heard  this  new  roll ;  but,  as  one  of  the  many  like 
things  added  to  the  older  prophecies  was  a  terrible 
personal  condemnation  of  the  king,^  we  may  be  sure 
that  he  was  not  allowed  to  remain  in  ignorance,  at  any 
rate,  of  this  portion  of  it. 

The   second    roll  was,   doubtless,   one   of  the   main 

^  For  verses  29-31  see  Chap.  VI.,  where  they  are  dealt  with  in 
connection  with  xxii.  13-19. 


42  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

sources  of  our  present  Book  of  Jeremiah,  and  the  narra- 
tive of  this  chapter  is  of  considerable  importance  for 
Old  Testament  criticism.  It  shows  that  a  prophetic 
book  may  not  go  back  to  any  prophetic  autograph  at 
all ;  its  most  original  sources  may  be  manuscripts 
written  at  the  prophet's  dictation,  and  liable  to  all  the 
errors  which  are  apt  to  creep  into  the  most  faithful 
work  of  an  amanuensis.  It  shows  further  that,  even 
when  a  prophet's  utterances  were  written  down  during 
his  lifetime,  the  manuscript  may  contain  only  his  recol- 
lections ^  of  w^hat  he  said  years  before,  and  that  these 
might  be  either  expanded  or  abbreviated,  sometimes 
even  unconsciously  modified,  in  the  light  of  subsequent 
events.  Verse  32  shows  that  Jeremiah  did  not  hesitate 
to  add  to  the  record  of  his  former  prophecies  "many 
like  words  "  :  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  these 
were  all  contained  in  an  appendix ;  they  would  often 
take  the  form  of  annotations. 

The  important  part  played  by  Baruch  as  Jeremiah's 
secretary  and  representative  must  have  invested  him 
with  full  authority  to  speak  for  his  master  and  expound 
his  views ;  such  authority  points  to  Baruch  as  the 
natural  editor  of  our  present  book,  which  is  virtually 
the  "  Life  and  Writings "  of  the  prophet.  The  last 
words  of  our  chapter  are  ambiguous,  perhaps  intention- 
ally. They  simply  state  that  many  like  words  were 
added,  and  do  not  say  by  whom;  they  might  even 
include  additions  made  later  on  by  Baruch  from  his 
own  reminiscences. 

In  conclusion,  we  may  notice  that  both  the  first  and 
second  copies  of  the  roll  were  written   by   the  direct 

'  The  supposition  that  Jeremiah  had  written  notes  of  previous 
prophecies  is  not  an  impossible  one,  but  it  is  a  pure  conjecture. 


xxxvi.J  THE   ROLL  43 

Divine  command,  just  as  in  the  Hexateuch  and  the 
Book  of  Samuel  we  read  of  Moses,  Joshua,  and  Samuel 
committing  certain  matters  to  writing  at  the  bidding  of 
Jehovah.  We  have  here  the  recognition  of  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  scribe,  as  ancillary  to  that  of  the  prophet. 
Jehovah  not  only  gives  His  word  to  His  servants,  but 
watches  over  its  preservation  and  transmission.^  But 
there  is  no  inspiration  to  write  any  new  revelation  : 
the  spoken  word,  the  consecrated  life,  are  inspired ;  the 
book  is  only  a  record  of  inspired  speech  and  action. 

'  Cf.  Orelli,  in  loco. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  RECHABITES 


"Jonaclab  the  son  of  Rechab  shall  not  want  a  man  to  stand  before 
Me  for  ever." — Jer.  xxxv.  19. 

THIS  incident  is  dated  '^  in  the  days  of  Jehoiakim." 
We  learn  from  verse  1 1  that  it  happened  at  a 
time  when  the  open  country  of  Judah  was  threatened 
by  the  advance  of  Nebuchadnezzar  with  a  Chaldean 
and  Syrian  army.  If  Nebuchadnezzar  marched  into 
the  south  of  Palestine  immediately  after  the  battle  of 
Carchemish,  the  incident  may  have  happened,  as  some 
suggest,  in  the  eventful  fourth  3^ear  of  Jehoiakim  ;  or  if 
he  did  not  appear  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem 
till  after  he  had  taken  over  the  royal  authority  at 
Bab34on,  Jeremiah's  interview  with  the  Rechabites  may 
have  followed  pretty  closely  upon  the  destruction  of 
Baruch's  roll.  But  we  need  not  press  the  words 
*'  Nebuchadnezzar  .  .  .  came  up  into  the  land  " ;  they 
may  only  mean  that  Judah  was  invaded  by  an  army 
acting  under  his  orders.  The  mention  of  Chaldeans 
and  Assyrians  suggests  that  this  invasion  is  the  same 
as  that  mentioned  in  2  Kings  xxiv.  I,  2,  where  we  are 
told  that  Jehoiakim  served  Nebuchadnezzar  three  years 
and  then  rebelled  against  him,  whereupon  Jehovah  sent 
against  him  bands  of  Chaldeans,  Syrians,  Moabites,  and 
Ammonites,  and  sent  them  against  Judah  to  destroy  it, 

44 


XXXV.]  THE  RECHABITES  45 

If  this  is  the  invasion  referred  to  in  our  chapter  it  falls 
towards  the  end  of  Jehoiakim's  reign,  and  sufficient 
time  had  elapsed  to  allow  the  king's  anger  against 
Jeremiah  to  cool,  so  that  the  prophet  could  venture  out 
of  his  hiding-place. 

The  marauding  bands  of  Chaldeans  and  their  allies 
had  driven  the  country  people  in  crowds  into  Jerusalem, 
and  among  them  the  nomad  clan  of  the  Rechabites. 
According  to  i  Chron.  ii.  55,  the  Rechabites  traced 
their  descent  to  a  certain  Hemath,  and  were  a  branch 
of  the  Kenites,  an  Edomite  tribe  dwelling  for  the  most 
part  in  the  south  of  Palestine.  These  Kenites  had 
maintained  an  ancient  and  intimate  alliance  with  Judah, 
and  in  time  the  allies  virtually  became  a  single  people, 
so  that  after  the  Return  from  the  Captivity  all  distinc- 
tion of  race  between  Kenites  and  Jews  was  forgotten, 
and  the  Kenites  were  reckoned  among  the  families  of 
Israel.  In  this  fusion  of  their  tribe  with  Judah,  the 
Rechabite  clan  would  be  included.  It  is  clear  from  all 
the  references  both  to  Kenites  and  to  Rechabites  that 
they  had  adopted  the  religion  of  Israel  and  worshipped 
Jehovah.  We  know  nothing  else  of  the  early  history 
of  the  Rechabites.  The  statement  in  Chronicles  that 
the  father  of  the  house  of  Rechab  was  Hemath  per- 
haps points  to  their  having  been  at  one  time  settled  at 
some  place  called  Hemath  near  Jabez  in  Judah.  Pos- 
sibly too  Rechab,  which  means  '^  rider,"  is  not  a 
personal  name,  but  a  designation  of  the  clan  as 
horsemen  of  the  desert. 

These  Rechabites  were  conspicuous  among  the 
Jewish  farmers  and  townsfolk  by  their  rigid  adherence 
to  the  habits  of  nomad  life  ;  and  it  was  this  peculiarity 
that  attracted  the  notice  of  Jeremiah,  and  made  them 
a    suitable    object-lesson    to    the   recreant  Jews.     The 


46  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

traditional  customs  of  the  clan  had  been  formulated 
into  positive  commands  by  Jonadab,  the  son  of  Rechab, 
i.e.  the  Rechabite.  This  must  be  the  same  Jonadab 
who  co-operated  with  Jehu  in  overthrowing  the  house 
of  Omri  and  suppressing  the  worship  of  Baal.  Jehu's 
' reforms  concluded  the  long  struggle  of  Elijah  and 
Elisha  against  the  house  of  Omri  and  its  half-heathen 
religion.  Hence  we  may  infer  that  Jonadab  and  his 
Rechabites  had  come  under  the  influence  of  these  great 
prophets,  and  that  their  social  and  religious  condition 
was  one  result  of  Elijah's  work.  Jeremiah  stood  in 
the  true  Hne  of  succession  from  the  northern  prophets 
in  his  attitude  towards  religion  and  politics ;  so  that 
there  would  be  bonds  of  sympathy  between  him  and 
these  nomad  refugees. 

The  laws  or  customs  of  Jonadab,  like  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments, were  chiefly  negative  :  "Ye  shall  drink  no 
wine,  neither  ye  nor  your  sons  for  ever  :  neither  shall 
ye  build  houses,  nor  sow  seed,  nor  plant  vineyards,  nor 
have  any  :  but  all  your  days  ye  shall  dwell  in  tents  ; 
that  ye  may  live  many  days  in  the  land  wherein  ye  are 
strangers." 

Various  parallels  have  been  found  to  the  customs  of 
the  Rechabites.  The  Hebrew  Nazarites  abstained  from 
wine  and  strong  drink,  from  grapes  and  grape  juice 
and  everything  made  of  the  vine,  *'  from  the  kernels 
even  to  the  husk."^  Mohammed  forbade  his  followers 
to  drink  any  sort  of  wine  or  strong  drink.  But  the 
closest  parallel  is  one  often  quoted  from  Diodorus 
Siculus,^  who,  writing  about  b.c.  8,  tells  us  that  the 
Nabatean  Arabs  were  prohibited  under  the  penalty  of 
death  from  sowing  corn  or  planting  fruit  trees,  using 

'  Num.  vi.  2.  ■•'  xix.  94. 


XXXV.]  THE  RECHABITES  47 

wine  or  building  houses.  Such  abstinence  is  not 
primarily  ascetic  ;  it  expresses  the  universal  contempt 
of  the  wandering  hunter  and  herdsman  for  tillers  of 
the  ground,  who  are  tied  to  one  small  spot  of  earth, 
and  for  burghers,  who  further  imprison  themselves  in 
narrow  houses  and  behind  city  walls.  The  nomad  has 
a  not  altogether  unfounded  instinct  that  such  accept- 
ance of  material  restraints  emasculates  both  soul  and 
body.  A  remarkable  parallel  to  the  laws  of  Jonadab 
ben  Rechab  is  found  in  the  injunctions  of  the  dying 
highlander,  Ranald  of  the  Mist,  to  his  heir  :  **  Son  of 
the  Mist  !  be  free  as  thy  forefathers.  Own  no  lord — 
receive  no  law — take  no  hire — give  no  stipend — build 
no  hut — enclose  no  pasture — sow  no  grain. "^  The 
Rechabite  faith  in  the  higher  moral  value  of  their 
primitive  habits  had  survived  their  alliance  with  Israel, 
and  Jonadab  did  his  best  to  protect  his  clan  from  the 
taint  of  city  life  and  settled  civilisation.  Abstinence 
from  wine  was  not  enjoined  chiefly,  if  at  all,  to  guard 
against  intoxication,  but  because  the  fascinations  of  the 
grape  might  tempt  the  clan  to  plant  vineyards,  or,  at 
any  rate,  would  make  them  dangerously  dependent 
upon  vine-dressers  and  wine-merchants. 

Till  this  recent  invasion,  the  Rechabites  had  faith- 
fully observed  their  ancestral  laws,  but  the  stress  of 
circumstances  had  now  driven  them  into  a  fortified 
city,  possibly  even  into  houses,  though  it  is  more 
probable  that  they  were  encamped  in  some  open  space 
within  the  walls. ^  Jeremiah  was  commanded  to  go 
and  bring  them  into  the  Temple,  that  is,  into  one  of 
the  rooms  in   the    Temple    buildings,   and    offer  them 

'   Scott,  Legend  of  Montyo^e,  chap.  xxii. 

'•^  The  term  "  house  ot"  the  Rechabites  "  in  verse  2  means  "family" 
or  "  clan,"  and  does  not  refer  to  a  building. 


48  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

wine.  The  narrative  proceeds  in  the  first  person,  "  I 
took  Jaazaniah,"  so  that  the  chapter  will  have  been 
composed  by  the  prophet  himself.  In  somewhat  legal 
fashion  he  tells  us  how  he  took  ''  Jaazaniah  ben  Jere- 
miah, ben  Habaziniah,  and  his  brethren,  and  all  his 
sons,  and  all  the  clan  of  the  Rechabites."  All  three 
names  are  compounded  of  the  Divine  name  lah,  Jehovah, 
and  serve  to  emphasise  the  devotion  of  the  clan  to 
the  God  of  Israel.  It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that 
the  somewhat  rare  name  Jeremiah  ^  should  occur  twice 
in  this  connection.  The  room  to  which  the  prophet 
took  his  friends  is  described  as  the  chamber  of  the 
disciples  of  the  man  of  God  ^  Hanan  ben  Igdaliah, 
which  was  by  the  chamber  of  the  princes,  which  was 
above  the  chamber  of  the  keeper  of  the  threshold, 
Maaseiah  ben  Shallum.  Such  minute  details  probably 
indicate  that  this  chapter  was  committed  to  writing 
while  these  buildings  were  still  standing  and  still  had 
the  same  occupants  as  at  the  time  of  this  incident,  but 
to  us  the  topography  is  unintelligible.  The  '*  man  of 
God"  or  prophet  Hanan  was  evidently  in  sympathy 
with  Jeremiah,  and  had  a  following  of  disciples  who 
formed  a  sort  of  school  of  the  prophets,  and  were  a 
sufficiently  permanent  body  to  have  a  chamber  assigned 
to  them  in  the  Temple  buildings.  The  keepers  of  the 
threshold  were  Temple  officials  of  high  standing.  The 
"  princes  "  may  have  been  the  princes  of  Judah,  who 
might  very  well  have  a  chamber  in  the  Temple  courts ; 
but  the  term  is  general,  and  may  simply  refer  to  other 
Temple  officials.  Hanan's  disciples  seem  to  have  been 
in  good  company. 

These  exact  specifications  of  person  and  place  are 

'  Eight  Jeremiahs  occur  in  O.T. 
^  Literally  "  sons  of  Hanan." 


XXXV.]  THE  RECHABITES  49 

probably  designed  to  give  a  certain  legal  solemnity 
and  importance  to  the  incident,  and  seem  to  warrant 
us  in  rejecting  Reuss'  suggestion  that  our  narrative 
is  simpl}^  an  elaborate  prophetic  figure.^ 

After  these  details  Jeremiah  next  tells  us  how  he 
set  before  his  guests  bowls  of  wine  and  cups,  and 
invited  them  to  drink.  Probably  Jaazaniah  and  his 
clansmen  were  aware  that  the  scene  was  intended  to 
have  symbolic  religious  significance.  They  would  not 
suppose  that  the  prophet  had  invited  them  all,  in  this 
solemn  fashion,  merely  to  take  a  cup  of  wine ;  and 
they  would  welcome  an  opportunity  of  showing  their 
loyalty  to  their  own  peculiar  customs.  They  said : 
''  We  will  drink  no  wine  :  for  our  father  Jonadab  the 
son  of  Rechab  commanded  us,  saying,  Ye  shall  drink 
no  wine,  neither  ye  nor  your  sons  for  ever."  They 
further  recounted  Jonadab's  other  commands  and  their 
own  scrupulous  obedience  in  every  point,  except  that 
now  they  had  been  compelled  to  seek  refuge  in  a 
walled  city. 

Then  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  Jeremiah  ;  he 
was  commanded  to  make  yet  another  appeal  to  the 
Jews,  by  contrasting  their  disobedience  with  the  fidehty 
of  the  Rechabites.  The  Divine  King  and  Father  of 
Israel  had  been  untiring  in  His  instruction  and  admoni- 
tions :  ''  I  have  spoken  unto  you,  rising  up  early  and 
speaking."  He  had  addressed  them  in  familiar  fashion 
through  their  fellow-countrymen  :  ''  I  have  sent  also  unto 
you  all  My  servants  the  prophets,  rising  up  early  and 
sending  them."  Yet  they  had  not  hearkened  unto  the 
God  of  Israel  or  His  prophets.  The  Rechabites  had 
received    no    special    revelation ;    they    had    not    been 

'  Jeremiah,  according  to  this  view,  had  no  interview  with  the 
Rechabites,  but  made  an  imaginary  incident  a  text  for  his  discourse. 

4 


50  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

appealed  to  by  numerous  prophets.  Their  Torah  had 
been  simply  given  them  by  their  father  Jonadab ; 
nevertheless  the  commands  of  Jonadab  had  been  re- 
garded and  those  of  Jehovah  had  been  treated  with 
contempt. 

Obedience  and  disobedience  would  bring  forth  their 
natural  fruit.  *'  I  will  bring  upon  Judah,  and  upon 
all  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  all  the  evil  that  I 
have  pronounced  against  them  :  because  I  have  spoken 
unto  them,  but  they  have  not  heard ;  and  I  have  called 
unto  them,  but  they  have  not  answered."  But  because 
the  Rechabites  obeyed  the  commandment  of  their 
father  Jonadab,  **  Therefore  thus  saith  Jehovah  Sabaoth, 
Jonadab  the  son  of  Rechab  shall  not  want  a  man  to 
stand  before  Me  for  ever." 

Jehovah's  approval  of  the  obedience  of  the  Rechabites 
is  quite  independent  of  the  specific  commands  which 
they  obeyed.  It  does  not  bind  us  to  abstain  from 
wine  any  more  than  from  building  houses  and  sowing 
seed.  Jeremiah  himself,  for  instance,  would  have  had 
no  more  hesitation  in  drinking  wine  than  in  sowing 
his  field  at  Anathoth.  The  tribal  customs  of  the 
Rechabites  had  no  authority  v/hatever  over  him.  Nor 
is  it  exactly  his  object  to  set  forth  the  merit  of  obedi- 
ence and  its  certain  and  great  reward.  These  truths 
are  rather  touched  upon  incidentally.  What  Jeremiah 
seeks  to  emphasise  is  the  gross,  extreme,  unique 
wickedness  of  Israel's  disobedience.  Jehovah  had 
not  looked  for  any  special  virtue  in  His  people.  His 
Torah  was  not  made  up  of  counsels  of  perfection.  He 
had  only  expected  the  loyalty  that  Moab  paid  to 
Chemosh,  and  Tyre  and  Sidon  to  Baal.  He  would 
have  been  satisfied  if  Israel  had  observed  His  laws 
as    faithfully    as  the    nomads   of  the  desert   kept    up 


XXXV.]  THE  RECHABITES  51 

their  ancestral  habits.  Jehovah  had  spoken  through 
Jeremiah  long  ago  and  said :  *'  Pass  over  the  isles 
of  Chittim,  and  see  ;  and  send  unto  Kedar,  and  con- 
sider diligent^,  and  see  if  there  be  any  such  thing. 
Hath  a  nation  changed  their  gods,  which  are  yet  no 
gods  ?  but  My  people  have  changed  their  glory  for 
that  which  doth  not  profit."  ^  Centuries  later  Christ 
found  Himself  constrained  to  upbraid  the  cities  of 
Israel,  "wherein  most  of  His  mighty  works  were 
done  "  X  '*  Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin  !  woe  unto  thee, 
Bethsaida  !  for  if  the  mighty  works  which  were  done 
in  you  had  been  done  in  Tyre  and  Sidon,  they  would 
have  repented  long  ago  in  sackcloth  and  ashes.  ...  It 
shall  be  more  tolerable  for  Tyre  and  Sidon  at  the  day 
of  judgment  than  for  you."  ^  And  again  and  again  in 
the  history  of  the  Church  the  Holy  Spirit  has  been 
grieved  because  those  who  profess  and  call  themselves 
Christians,  and  claim  to  prophesy  and  do  many  mighty 
works  in  the  name  of  Christ,  are  less  loyal  to  the 
gospel  than  the  heathen  to  their  own  superstitions. 

Buddhists  and  Mohammedans  have  been  held  up  as 
modern  examples  to  rebuke  the  Church,  though  as 
a  rule  with  scant  justification.  Perhaps  material  for 
a  more  relevant  contrast  may  be  found  nearer  home. 
Christian  societies  have  been  charged  with  conducting 
their  affairs  by  methods  to  which  a  respectable  busi- 
ness firm  would  not  stoop  ;  they  are  said  to  be  less 
scrupulous  in  their  dealings  and  less  chivalrous  in 
their  honour  than  the  devotees  of  pleasure  ;  at  their 
gatherings  they  are  sometimes  supposed  to  lack  the 
mutual  courtesy  of  members  of  a  Legislature  or  a 
Chamber  of  Commerce.     The   history  of  councils  and 

*  ii.  10,  II.  '  Matt.  xi.  21,  22. 


52  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

synods  and  Church  meetings  gives  colour  to  such 
charges,  which  could  never  have  been  made  if  Chris- 
tians had  been  as  jealous  for  the  Name  of  Christ  as  a 
merchant  is  for  his  credit  or  a  soldier  for  his  honour. 

And  yet  these  contrasts  do  not  argue  any  real  moral 
and  religious  superiority  of  the  Rechabites  over  the 
Jews  or  of  unbelievers  over  professing  Christians.  It 
was  comparatively  easy  to  abstain  from  wine  and  to 
wander  over  wide  pasture  lands  instead  of  living  cooped 
up  in  cities — far  easier  than  to  attain  to  the  great 
ideals  of  Deuteronomy  and  the  prophets.  It  is  always 
easier  to  conform  to  the  code  of  business  and  society 
than  to  live  according  to  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  The 
fatal  sin  of  Judah  was  not  that  it  fell  so  far  short  of  its 
ideals,  but  that  it  repudiated  them.  So  long  as  we 
lament  our  own  failures  and  still  cling  to  the  Name 
and  Faith  of  Christ,  we  are  not  shut  out  from  mercy ; 
our  supreme  sin  is  to  crucify  Christ  afresh,  by  denying 
the  power  of  His  gospel,  while  we  retain  its  empty  form. 

The  reward  promised  to  the  Rechabites  for  their 
obedience  v/as  that  *^  Jonadab  the  son  of  Rechab  shall 
not  want  a  man  to  stand  before  Me  for  ever  "  ;  to  stand 
before  Jehovah  is  often  used  to  describe  the  exercise 
of  priestly  or  prophetic  ministry.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  the  Rechabites  were  hereby  promoted  to 
the  status  of  the  true  Israel,  **  a  kingdom  of  priests  " ; 
but  this  phrase  may  merely  mean  that  their  clan 
should  continue  in  existence.  Loyal  observance  of 
national  law,  the  subordination  of  individual  caprice 
and  selfishness  to  the  interests  of  the  community,  make 
up  a  large  part  of  that  righteousness  that  establisheth 
a  nation. 

Here,  as  elsewhere,  students  of  prophecy  have  been 
anxious  to  discover  some  literal   fulfilment ;  and  have 


XXXV.]  THE   RECHABITES  53 

searched  curiously  for  any  trace  of  the  continued 
existence  of  the  Rechabites.  The  notice  in  Chronicles 
implies  that  they  formed  part  of  the  Jewish  community 
of  the  Restoration.  Apparently  Alexandrian  Jews 
were  acquainted  with  Rechabites  at  a  still  later  date. 
Psalm  Ixxi.  is  ascribed  b}'  the  Septuagint  to  *Hhe 
sons  of  Jonadab."  Eusebius^  mentions  "priests  of  the 
sons  of  Rechab,"  and  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  a  Jewish 
traveller  of  the  twelfth  century,  states  that  he  met  w^th 
them  in  Arabia.  More  recent  travellers  have  thought 
that  they  discovered  the  descendants  of  Rechab 
amongst  the  nomads  in  Arabia  or  the  Peninsula  of 
Sinai  that  still  practised  the  old  ancestral  customs. 

But  the  fidelity  of  Jehovah  to  His  promises  does 
not  depend  upon  our  unearthing  obscure  tribes  in 
distant  deserts.  The  gifts  of  God  are  without  repent- 
ance, but  they  have  their  inexorable  conditions  ;  no 
nation  can  flourish  for  centuries  on  the  virtues  of  its 
ancestors.  The  Rechabites  may  have  vanished  in  the 
ordinary  stream  of  history,  and  yet  v/e  can  hold  that 
Jeremiah's  prediction  has  been  fulfilled  and  is  still 
being  fulfilled.  No  scriptural  prophecy  is  limited  in  its 
application  to  an  individual  or  a  race,  and  every  nation 
possessed  by  the  spirit  of  true  patriotism  shall  "  stand 
before  Jehovah  for  ever." 

'   Ch.  Hist,  ii.  23. 


T 


CHAPTER   V 

BARUCH 
xlv. 

"Thy  life  will  I  give  unto  thee  for  a  prey." — Jer.  xlv.  5. 

HE  editors  of  the  versions  and  of  the  Hebrew  text 
of  the  Old  Testament  have  assigned  a  separate 
chapter  to  this  short  utterance  concerning  Baruch  ;  thus 
paying  an  unconscious  tribute  to  the  worth  and  import- 
ance of  Jeremiah's  disciple  and  secretary^  who  was  the 
first  to  bear  the  familiar  Jewish  name,  which  in  its 
Latinised  form  of  Benedict  has  been  a  favourite  with 
saints  and  popes.  Probably  few  who  read  of  these 
great  ascetics  and  ecclesiastics  give  a  thought  to  the 
earliest  recorded  Baruch,  nor  can  we  suppose  that 
Christian  Benedicts  have  been  named  after  him.  One 
thing  they  may  all  have  in  common  :  either  their  own 
faith  or  that  of  their  parents  ventured  to  bestow  upon 
a  "  man  born  unto  trouble  as  the  sparks  fly  upward " 
the  epithet  "  Blessed."  We  can  scarcely  suppose  that 
the  Hfe  of  any  Baruch  or  Benedict  has  run  so  smoothly 
as  to  prevent  him  or  his  friends  from  feeling  that  such 
faith  has  not  been  outwardly  justified  and  that  the 
name  suggested  an  unkind  satire.  Certainly  Jeremiah's 
disciple,  like  his  namesake  Baruch  Spinoza,  had  to 
recognise  his  blessings  disguised  as  distress  and 
persecution. 

54 


xlv.]  BARUCH  55 

Baruch  ben  Neriah  is  said  by  Josephus^  to  have 
belonged  to  a  most  distinguished  family,  and  to  have 
been  exceedingly  well  educated  in  his  native  language. 
These  statements  are  perhaps  legitimate  deductions 
from  the  information  suppHed  by  our  book.  His  title 
''scribe"^  and  his  position  as  Jeremiah's  secretary 
imply  that  he  possessed  the  best  culture  of  his  time  ; 
and  we  are  told  in  li.  59  that  Seraiah  ben  Neriah,  who 
m.ust  be  Baruch's  brother,  was  chief  chamberlain  (R.V.) 
to  Zedekiah.  According  to  the  Old  Latin  Version  of 
the  Apocryphal  Book  of  Baruch  (i.  i)  he  was  of  the 
tribe  of  Simeon,  a  statement  b}^  no  means  improbable 
in  view  of  the  close  connection  between  Judah  and 
Simeon,  but  needing  the  support  of  some  better 
authority. 

Baruch's  relation  to  Jeremiah  is  not  expressly  defined, 
but  it  is  clearly  indicated  in  the  various  narratives  in 
which  he  is  referred  to.  We  find  him  in  constant 
attendance  upon  the  prophet,  acting  both  as  his  "  scribe," 
or  secretary,  and  as  his  mouthpiece.  The  relation 
was  that  of  Joshua  to  Moses,  of  Elisha  to  Elijah,  of 
Gehazi  to  Elisha,  of  Mark  to  Paul  and  Barnabas,  and 
of  Timoth}'  to  Paul.  It  is  described  in  the  case  of 
Joshua  and  Mark  by  the  term  "  minister,"  while  Elisha 
is  characterised  as  having  ^'  poured  water  on  the  hands 
of  Elijah."  The  "minister"  was  at  once  personal 
attendant,  disciple,  representative,  and  possible  suc- 
cessor of  the  prophet.  The  position  has  its  analogue 
in  the  service  of  the  squire  to  the  mediaeval  knight, 
and  in  that  of  an  unpaid  private  secretary  to  a  modern 
cabinet  minister.  Squires  expected  to  become  knights, 
and  private  secretaries  hope  for  a  seat  in  future  cabinets. 

'  Antt.,  X,  9,  I,  2  xxxvi.  26,  32. 


56  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Another  less  perfect  parallel  is  the  relation  of  the 
members  of  a  German  theological  '*  seminar "  to  their 
professor. 

Baruch  is  iirst^  introduced  to  us  in  the  narrative 
concerning  the  roll.  He  appears  as  Jeremiah's  amanu- 
ensis and  representative,  and  is  entrusted  with  the 
dangerous  and  honourable  task  of  publishing  his  pro- 
phecies to  the  people  in  the  Temple.  Not  long  before, 
similar  utterances  had  almost  cost  the  master  his  life, 
so  that  the  disciple  showed  high  courage  and  devotion 
in  undertaking  such  a  commission.  He  was  called  to 
share  with  his  master  at  once  the  same  cup  of  perse- 
cution— and  the  same  Divine  protection. 

We  next  hear  of  Baruch  in  connection  with  the 
symbolic  purchase  of  the  field  at  Anathoth.^  He  seems 
to  have  been  attending  on  Jeremiah  during  his  imprison- 
ment in  the  court  of  the  guard,  and  the  documents 
containing  the  evidence  of  the  purchase  were  entrusted 
to  his  care.  Baruch's  presence  in  the  court  of  the 
guard  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  he  was  himself 
a  prisoner.  The  whole  incident  shows  that  Jeremiah's 
friends  had  free  access  to  him  ;  and  Baruch  probably 
not  only  attended  to  his  master's  wants  in  prison,  but 
also  was  his  channel  of  communication  with  the  outside 
world. 

We  are  nowhere  told  that  Baruch  himself  was  either 
beaten  or  imprisoned,  but  it  is  not  improbable  that  he 
shared  Jeremiah's  fortunes  even  to  these  extremities. 
We  next  hear  of  him  as  carried  down  to  Egypt  ^  with 
Jeremiah,  when  the  Jewish  refugees  fled  thither  after 
the  murder  of  Gedaliah.  Apparently  he  had  remained 
with  Jeremiah  throughout  the  whole  interval,  had  con- 

'  In  order  of  time,  ch.  xxxvi.  ^  xxxii.  ^  xliii. 


xlv.]  BARUCH  57 

tinned  to  minister  to  him  during  his  imprisonment,  and 
had  been  among  the  crowd  of  Jewish  captives  whom 
Nebuchadnezzar  found  at  Ramah.  Josephus  probably 
makes  a  similar  conjecture^  in  telhng  us  that,  when 
Jeremiah  was  released  and  placed  under  the  protection 
of  Gedaliah  at  Mizpah,  he  asked  and  obtained  from 
Nebuzaradan  the  liberty  of  his  disciple  Baruch.  At 
any  rate  Baruch  shared  with  his  master  the  transient 
hope  and  bitter  disappointment  of  this  period ;  he 
supported  him  in  dissuading  the  remnant  of  Jews  from 
fleeing  into  Egypt,  and  was  also  compelled  to  share 
their  flight.  According  to  a  tradition  recorded  by 
Jerome,  Baruch  and  Jeremiah  died  in  Egypt.  But  the 
Apocryphal  Book  of  Baruch  places  him  at  Babylon, 
whither  another  tradition  takes  him  after  the  death  of 
Jeremiah  in  Egypt. ^  These  legends  are  probably 
mere  attempts  of  wistful  imagination  to  supply  unwel- 
come blanks  in  history. 

It  has  often  been  supposed  that  our  present  Book  of 
Jeremiah,  in  some  stage  of  its  formation,  was  edited 
or  compiled  by  Baruch,  and  that  this  book  may  be 
ranked  with  biographies — like  Stanley's  Life  of 
Arnold — of  great  teachers  by  their  old  disciples. 
He  was  certainly  the  amanuensis  of  the  roll,  which 
must  have  been  the  most  valuable  authority  for  any 
editor  of  Jeremiah's  prophecies.  And  the  amanuensis 
might  very  easily  become  the  editor.  If  an  edition  of 
the  book  was  compiled  in  Jeremiah's  lifetime,  we 
should  naturally  expect  him  to  use  Baruch's  assistance ; 
if  it  first  took  shape  after  the  prophet's  death,  and  if 
Baruch  survived,  no  one  would  be  better  able  to  com- 
pile  the    "  Life    and    Works    of   Jeremiah "    than    his 

'  An!t.,  X.  9,  I. 

^  Bissell's  Introduction  to  Baruch  in  Lange's  Commentary. 


58  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

favourite  and  faithful  disciple.  The  personal  prophecy 
about  Baruch  does  not  occur  in  its  proper  place  in 
connection  with  the  episode  of  the  roll,  but  is  appended 
at  the  end  of  the  prophecies/  possibly  as  a  kind  of 
subscription  on  the  part  of  the  editor.  These  data  do 
not  constitute  absolute  proof,  but  they  afford  strong 
probability  that  Baruch  compiled  a  book,  which  was 
substantially  our  Jeremiah.  The  evidence  is  similar  in 
character  to,  but  much  more  conclusive  than,  that  ad- 
duced for  the  authorship  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
by  Apollos. 

Almost  the  final  reference  to  Baruch  suggests  another 
aspect  of  his  relation  to  Jeremiah.  The  Jewish  captains 
accused  him  of  unduly  influencing  his  master  against 
Egypt  and  in  favour  of  Chaldea.  Whatever  truth 
there  may  have  been  in  this  particular  charge,  we 
gather  that  popular  opinion  credited  Baruch  with  con- 
siderable influence  over  Jeremiah,  and  probably  popular 
opinion  was  not  far  wrong.  Nothing  said  about 
Baruch  suggests  any  vein  of  weakness  in  his  character, 
such  as  Paul  evidently  recognised  in  Timothy.  His 
few  appearances  upon  the  scene  rather  leave  the 
impression  of  strength  and  self-reliance,  perhaps  even 
self-assertion.  If  we  knew  more  about  him,  possibly 
indeed  if  any  one  else  had  compiled  these  ''Memorabilia," 
we  might  discover  that  much  in  Jeremiah's  policy  and 
teaching  was  due  to  Baruch,  and  that  the  master  leaned 
somewhat  heavily  upon  the  sympathy  of  the  disciple. 
The  qualities  that  make  a  successful  man  of  action  do 
not  always  exempt  their  possessor  from  being  directed 
or  even  controlled  by  his  followers.  It  would  be 
interesting  to  discover  how  much  of  Luther  is  Melanch- 

'  So  LXX,,  which  here  probably  gives  the  true  order. 


xW]  BARUCH  59 

thon.  Of  many  a  great  minister,  his  secretaries  and 
subordinates  might  say  safely,  in  private,  Cujiis  pars 
magna  fttimiis. 

The  short  prophecy  which  has  furnished  a  text  for 
this  chapter  shows  that  Jeremiah  was  not  unaware  of 
Baruch's  tendency  to  self-assertion,  and  even  felt  that 
sometimes  it  required  a  check.  Apparently  chapter  xlv. 
once  formed  the  immediate  continuation  of  chapter  xxxvi., 
the  narrative  of  the  incident  of  the  roll.  It  was  "  the 
word  spoken  by  Jeremiah  the  prophet  to  Baruch  ben 
Neriah,  when  he  wrote  these  words  in  a  book  at  the 
dictation  of  Jeremiah  in  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim." 
The  reference  evidently  is  to  xxxvi.  32,  where  we  are 
told  that  Baruch  wrote,  at  Jeremiah's  dictation,  all  the 
words  of  the  book  that  had  been  burnt,  and  many 
like  words. 

Clearly  Baruch  had  not  received  Jeremiah's  message 
as  to  the  sin  and  ruin  of  Judah  without  strong  protest. 
It  was  as  distasteful  to  him  as  to  all  patriotic  Jews  and 
even  to  Jeremiah  himself  Baruch  had  not  yet  been 
able  to  accept  this  heavy  burden  or  to  look  beyond  to 
the  brighter  promise  of  the  future.  He  broke  out  into 
bitter  complaint :  "  Woe  is  me  now !  for  Jehovah 
hath  added  sorrow  to  my  pain  ;  I  am  weary  with  my 
groaning,  and  find  no  rest."  ^  Strong  as  these  words 
are,  they  are  surpassed  by  many  of  Jeremiah's  com- 
plaints to  Jehovah,  and  doubtless  even  now  they  found 
an  echo  in  the  prophet's  heart.  Human  impatience  of 
suffering  revolts  desperately  against  the  conviction 
that  calamity  is  inevitable  ;  hope  whispers  that  some 
unforeseen  Providence  will  yet  disperse  the  storm- 
clouds,  and  the  portents  of  ruin  will  dissolve  like  some 

'  The  clause  "  I  am  weary  with  my  groaning "  also  occurs  in 
Psalm  vi.  6. 


6o  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

evil  dream.  Jeremiah  had,  now  as  always,  the  harsh, 
unwelcome  task  of  compelling  himself  and  his  fellows 
to  face  the  sad  and  appalling  reality.  *'  Thus  saith 
Jehovah,  Behold,  I  am  breaking  down  that  which  I 
built,  I  am  plucking  up  that  which  I  planted."  ^  This 
was  his  familiar  message  concerning  Judah,  but  he  had 
also  a  special  word  for  Baruch  :  *'  And  as  for  thee, 
dost  thou  seek  great  things  for  thyself?"  What 
''  great  things  "  could  a  devout  and  patriotic  Jew,  a 
disciple  of  Jeremiah,  seek  for  himself  in  those  disastrous 
times?  The  answer  is  at  once  suggested  b}^  the 
renewed  prediction  of  doom.  Baruch,  in  spite  of  his 
master's  teaching,  had  still  ventured  to  look  for  better 
things,  and  had  perhaps  fancied  that  he  might  succeed 
where  Jeremiah  had  failed  and  might  become  the 
mediator  who  should  reconcile  Israel  to  Jehovah.  He 
may  have  thought  that  Jeremiah's  threats  and  entreaties 
had  prepared  the  way  for  some  message  of  reconciliation. 
Gemariah  ben  Shaphan  and  other  princes  had  been 
greatly  moved  when  Baruch  read  the  roll.  Might  not 
their  emotion  be  an  earnest  of  the  repentance  of  the 
people  ?  If  he  could  carry  on  his  master's  work  to  a 
more  blessed  issue  than  the  master  himself  had  dared 
to  hope,  would  not  this  be  a  ** great  thing"  indeed? 
We  gather  from  the  tone  of  the  chapter  that  Baruch's 
aspirations  were  unduly  tinged  with  personal  ambition. 
While  kings,  priests,  and  prophets  were  sinking  into 
a  common  ruin  from  which  even  the  most  devoted 
servants  of  Jehovah  would  not  escape,  Baruch  was 
indulging  himself  in  visions  of  the  honour  to  be  obtained 
from    a    glorious    mission,    successfully    accomplished. 

'  The  concluding  clause  of  the  verse  is  omitted  by  LXX.,  and  is 
probably  a  gloss  added  to  indicate  that  the  ruin  would  not  be  confined 
to  Judah,  but  would  extend  "over  the  whole  earth."    Cf.  Kautzsch. 


xlv.]  BARUCH  6 1 

Jeremiah  reminds  him  that  he  will  have  to  take  his 
share  in  the  common  misery.  Instead  of  setting  his 
heart  upon  "  great  things "  which  are  not  according 
to  the  Divine  purpose,  he  must  be  prepared  to  endure 
with  resignation  the  evil  which  Jehovah  ^*is  bringing 
upon  all  flesh."  Yet  there  is  a  word  of  comfort  and 
promise  :  '*  I  will  give  thee  th}^  life  for  a  prey  in  all 
places  whither  thou  goest."  Baruch  was  to  be  protected 
from  violent  or  premature  death. 

According  to  Renan/  this  boon  was  flung  to  Baruch 
half-contemptuously,  in  order  to  silence  his  unworthy 
and  unseasonable  importunity  : — 

"  Dans  une  catastrophe  qui  va  englober  I'humanite 
tout  entiere,  il  est  beau  de  venir  reclamer  de  petites 
faveurs  d'exception  1  Baruch  aura  la  vie  sauve  partout 
ou  il  ira  ;  qu'il  s'en  contente  !  " 

We  prefer  a  more  generous  interpretation.  To  a 
selfish  man,  unless  indeed  he  clung  to  bare  life  in 
craven  terror  or  mere  animal  tenacity,  .such  an  existence 
as  Baruch  was  promised  would  have  seemed  no  boon 
at  all.  Imprisonment  in  a  besieged  and  starving  city, 
captivity  and  exile,  his  fellow-countrymen's  ill-will  and 
resentment  from  first  to  last — these  experiences  would 
be  hard  to  recognise  as  privileges  bestowed  by  Jehovah. 
Had  Baruch  been  wholly  self-centred,  he  might  well 
have  craved  death  instead,  like  Job,  nay,  like  Jeremiah 
himself.  But  life  meant  for  him  continued  ministry 
to  his  master,  the  high  privilege  of  supporting  him 
in  his  witness  to  Jehovah.  If,  as  seems  almost  certain, 
we  owe  to  Baruch  the  preservation  of  Jeremiah's  pro- 
phecies, then  indeed  the  life  that  was  given  him  for 
a  prey  must  have  been  precious  to  him  as  the  devoted 

*  Hist.  o/Israelf  iii.,293. 


62  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

servant  of  God.  Humanly  speaking,  the  future  of 
revealed  religion  and  of  Christianity  depended  on  the 
survival  of  Jeremiah's  teaching,  and  this  hung  upon 
the  frail  thread  of  Baruch's  life.  After  all,  Baruch  was 
destined  to  achieve  "  great  things,"  even  though  not 
those  which  he  sought  after ;  and  as  no  editor's  name 
is  prefixed  to  our  book,  he  cannot  be  accused  of  self- 
seeking.  So  too  for  every  faithful  disciple,  his  life, 
even  if  given  for  a  prey,  even  if  spent  in  sorrow, 
poverty,  and  pain,  is  still  a  Divine  gift,  because  nothing 
can  spoil  its  opportunity  of  ministering  to  men  and 
glorifying  God,  even  if  only  by  patient  endurance  of 
suffering. 

We  may  venture  on  a  wider  application  of  the 
promise,  "Thy  life  shall  be  given  thee  for  a  prey." 
Life  is  not  merely  continued  existence  in  the  body : 
life  has  come  to  mean  spirit  and  character,  so  that 
Christ  could  say,  '*  He  that  loseth  his  hfe  for  My  sake 
shall  find  it."  In  this  sense  the  loyal  servant  of  God 
wins  as  his  prey,  out  of  all  painful  experiences,  a  fuller 
and  nobler  life.  Other  rewards  may  come  in  due 
season,  but  this  is  the  most  certain  and  the  most 
sufficient.  For  Baruch,  constant  devotion  to  a  hated 
and  persecuted  master,  uncompromising  utterance  of 
unpopular  truth,  had  their  chief  issue  in  the  redemp- 
tion of  his  own  inward  life. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  JUDGMENT   ON  JEHOIAKIM 
xxii,   13-19,  xxxvi.  30,  31. 

"Jehoiakim  .  .  .  slew  him  (Uriah)  with  the  sword,  and  cast  his 
dead  body  into  the  graves  of  the  common  people." — Jer.  xxvi.  23. 

"  Therefore  thus  saith  Jehovah  concerning  Jehoiakim,  ...  He 
shall  be  buried  with  the  burial  of  an  ass,  drawn  and  cast  forth 
be3^ond  the  gates  of  Jerusalem." — Jer.  xxii.  18,  19. 

"  Jehoiakim  .  .  .  did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  Jehovah, 
according  to  all  that  his  fathers  had  done." — 2  Kings  xxiii.  36,  37. 

OUR  last  four  chapters  have  been  occupied  with 
the  history  of  Jeremiah  during  the  reign  of 
Jehoiakim,  and  therefore  necessarily  with  the  relations 
of  the  prophet  to  the  king  and  his  government.  Before 
we  pass  on  to  the  reigns  of  Jehoiachin  and  Zedekiah, 
we  mxust  consider  certain  utterances  which  deal  with 
the  personal  character  and  career  of  Jehoiakim.  We 
are  helped  to  appreciate  these  passages  by  what  we 
here  read,  and  by  the  brief  paragraph  concerning  this 
reign  in  the  Second  Book  of  Kings.  In  Jeremiah  the 
king's  policy  and  conduct  are  specially  illustrated  by 
two  incidents,  the  murder  of  the  prophet  Uriah  and 
the  destruction  of  the  roll.  The  historian  states  his 
judgment  of  the  reign,  but  his  brief  record  ^  adds  little 
to  our  knowledge  of  the  sovereign. 

Jehoiakim  was  placed  upon  the  throne  as  the  nominee 

'  2  Kings  xxiii.  34— xxiv.  7. 
63 


64  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

and  tributary  of  Pharaoh  Necho ;  but  he  had  the 
address  or  good  fortune  to  retain  his  authority  under 
Nebuchadnezzar,  by  transferring  his  allegiance  to  the 
new  suzerain  of  Western  Asia.  When  a  suitable 
opportunity  offered,  the  unwilling  and  discontented 
vassal  naturally  ''turned  and  rebelled  against"  his  lord. 
Even  then  his  good  fortune  did  not  forsake  him ; 
although  in  his  latter  days  Judah  was  harried  by  pre- 
datory bands  of  Chaldeans,  Syrians,  Moabites,  and 
Ammonites,  yet  Jehoiakim  "  slept  with  his  fathers " 
before  Nebuchadnezzar  had  set  to  work  in  earnest  to 
chastise  his  refractory  subject.  He  was  not  reserved, 
like  Zedekiah,  to  endure  agonies  of  mental  and  physical 
torture,  and  to  rot  in  a  Babylonian  dungeon. 

Jeremiah's  judgment  upon  Jehoiakim  and  his  doings 
is  contained  in  the  two  passages  which  form  the  sub- 
ject of  this  chapter.  The  utterance  in  xxxvi.  30,  31, 
was  evoked  by  the  destruction  of  the  roll,  and  we  may 
fairly  assume  that  xxii.  13-19  was  also  delivered  after 
that  incident.  The  immediate  context  of  the  latter 
paragraph  throws  no  light  on  the  date  of  its  origin. 
Chapter  xxii.  is  a  series  of  judgments  on  the  successors 
of  Josiah,  and  was  certainly  composed  after  the  deposi- 
tion of  Jehoiachin,  probably  during  the  reign  of 
Zedekiah  ;  but  the  section  on  Jehoiakim  must  have  been 
uttered  at  an  earlier  period.  Renan  indeed  imagines  ^ 
that  Jeremiah  delivered  this  discourse  at  the  gate  of  the 
royal  palace  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  new  reign. 
The  nominee  of  Egypt  was  scarcely  seated  on  the  throne, 
his  ''new  name"  Jehoiakim — "He  whom  Jehovah 
estabhsheth" — still  sounded  strange  in  his  ears,  when 
the  prophet  of  Jehovah  publicly  menaced  the  king  with 

*  iii.  274. 


xxii.  1 3- 1 9,  xxxvi.  30,  3 1 .]   THEJUD  GHENT  ON  J E  HOI  A  KIM    65  . 

condign  punishment.  Renan  is  naturally  surprised 
that  Jehoiakim  tolerated  Jeremiah,  even  for  a  moment. 
But,  here  as  often  elsewhere,  the  French  critic's 
dramatic  instinct  has  warped  his  estimate  of  evidence. 
We  need  not  accept  the  somewhat  unkind  saying  that 
picturesque  anecdotes  are  never  true,  but,  at  the  same 
time,  we  have  always  to  guard  against  the  temptation 
to  accept  the  most  dramatic  interpretation  of  history  as 
the  most  accurate.  The  contents  of  this  passage,  the 
references  to  robbery,  oppression,  and  violence,  clearly 
imply  that  Jehoiakim  had  reigned  long  enough  for  his 
government  to  reveal  itself  as  hopelessly  corrupt.  The 
final  breach  between  the  king  and  the  prophet  was 
marked  by  the  destruction  of  the  roll,  and  xxii.  13- 1 9, 
like  xxxvi.  30,  31,  may  be  considered  a  consequence  of 
this  breach. 

Let  us  now  consider  these  utterances.  In  xxxvi.  30<7 
we  read,  ^'Therefore  thus  saith  Jehovah  concerning 
Jehoiakim  king  of  Judah,  He  shall  have  none  to  sit 
upon  the  throne  of  David."  Later  on,^  a  like  judgment 
was  pronounced  upon  Jehoiakim's  son  and  successor 
Jehoiachin.  The  absence  of  this  threat  from  xxii.  13-19 
is  doubtless  due  to  the  fact  that  the  chapter  was  com- 
piled when  the  letter  of  the  prediction  seemed  to  have 
been  proved  to  be  false  by  the  accession  of  Jehoiachin. 
Its  spirit  and  substance  were  amply  satisfied  by  the 
latter's  deposition  and  captivity  after  a  brief  reign  of  a 
hundred  days. 

The  next  clause  in  the  sentence  on  Jehoiakim  runs  : 
"  His  dead  body  shall  be  cast  out  in  the  day  to  the 
heat,  and  in  the  night  to  the  frost."  The  same  doom 
is  repeated  in  the  later  prophecy : — 


66  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

"  They  shall  not  lament  for  him, 

Alas  my  brother  !     Alas  my  brother ! 
They  shall  not  lament  for  him, 

Alas  lord  !     Alas  lord  !' 
He  shall  be  buried  with  the  burial  of  an  ass. 

Dragged   forth   and    cast   away   without   the   gates   of 
Jerusalem." 

Jeremiah  did  not  need  to  draw  upon  his  imagination 
for  this  vision  of  judgment.  When  the  words  were 
uttered,  his  memory  called  up  the  murder  of  Uriah 
ben  Shemaiah  and  the  dishonour  done  to  his  corpse. 
Uriah's  only  guilt  had  been  his  zeal  for  the  truth  that 
Jeremiah  had  proclaimed.  Though  Jehoiakim  and  his 
party  had  not  dared  to  touch  Jeremiah  or  had  not  been 
able  to  reach  him,  they  had  struck  his  influence  by 
killing  Uriah.  But  for  their  hatred  of  the  master,  the 
disciple  might  have  been  spared.  And  Jeremiah  had 
neither  been  able  to  protect  him,  nor  allowed  to  share 
his  fate.  Any  generous  spirit  will  understand  how 
Jeremiah's  whole  nature  was  possessed  and  agitated 
by  a  tempest  of  righteous  indignation,  how  utterly 
humiliated  he  felt  to  be  compelled  to  stand  by  in 
helpless  impotence.  And  now,  when  the  tyrant  had 
filled  up  the  measure  of  his  iniquity,  when  the  imperious 
impulse  of  the  Divine  Spirit  bade  the  prophet  speak 
the  doom  of  his  king,  there  breaks  forth  at  last  the  long 
pent-up  cry  for  vengeance:  "Avenge,  O  Lord,  Thy 
slaughtered  saint  " — let  the  persecutor  suffer  the  agony 
and  shame  which  he  inflicted  on  God's  martyr,  fling  out 
the  murderer's  corpse  unburied,  let  it  lie  and  rot  upon 
the  dishonoured  grave  of  his  victim. 

Can    we   say.   Amen  ?     Not  perhaps  without    some 

'  R.V.,  "Ah  my  brother!  or  Ah  sister!  ...  Ah  lord!  or  Ah  his 
glory ! "  The  text  is  based  on  an  emendation  of  Graetz,  following  the 
Syriac.     (Giesebrecht.) 


xxii.  13-19,  xxxvi.  30,  31.]    THE  JUDGMENT  ON  JEHOIAKIM   67 

hesitation.  Yet  surely,  if  our  veins  run  blood  and  not 
water,  our  feelings,  had  we  been  in  Jeremiah's  place, 
would  have  been  as  bitter  and  our  words  as  fierce. 
Jehoiakim  was  more  guilty  than  our  Queen  Mary,  but 
the  memory  of  the  grimmest  of  the  Tudors  still  stinks 
in  English  nostrils.  In  our  own  days,  we  have  not  had 
time  to  forget  how  men  received  the  nev/s  of  Han- 
nington's  murder  at  Uganda,  and  we  can  imagine  what 
European  Christians  would  say  and  feel  if  their 
missionaries  were  massacred  in  China. 

And  yet,  when  we  read  such  a  treatise  as  Lactantius 
wrote  Concerning  the  Deaths  of  Persecutors^  we  can- 
not but  recoil.  We  are  shocked  at  the  stern  satis- 
faction he  evinces  in  the  miserable  ends  of  Maximin 
and  Galerius,  and  other  enemies  of  the  true  faith. 
Discreet  historians  have  made  large  use  of  this  work, 
without  thinking  it  desirable  to  give  an  explicit  account 
of  its  character  and  spirit.  Biographers  of  Lactantius 
feel  constrained  to  offer  a  half-hearted  apology  for  the 
De  Morte  Persecutorum.  Similarly  we  find  ourselves 
of  one  mind  with  Gibbon/  in  refusing  to  derive  edifica- 
tion from  a  sermon  in  which  Cons  tan  tine  the  Great, 
or  the  bishop  who  composed  it  for  him,  affected  to 
relate  the  miserable  end  of  all  the  persecutors  of  the 
Church.  Nor  can  we  share  the  exultation  of  the 
Covenanters  in  the  Divine  judgment  which  they  saw 
in  the  death  of  Claverhouse ;  and  we  are  not  moved 
to  any  hearty  sympathy  with  more  recent  writers,  who 
have  tried  to  illustrate  from  history  the  danger  of 
touching  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Church. 
Doubtless  God  will  avenge  His  own  elect ;  nevertheless 
Nemo  me  impune  lacessit  is  no  seemly  motto  for  the 

*  Chap,  xiii, 


68  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

Kingdom  of  God.  Even  Greek  mythologists  taught 
that  it  was  perilous  for  men  to  wield  the  thunderbolts 
of  Zeus.  Still  less  is  the  Divine  wrath  a  weapon  for 
men  to  grasp  in  their  differences  and  dissensions,  even 
about  the  things  of  God.  Michael  the  Archangel,  even 
when  contending  with  the  devil  he  disputed  about  the 
body  of  Moses,  durst  not  bring  against  him  a  railing 
judgment,  but  said.  The  Lord  rebuke  thee.^ 

How  far  Jeremiah  would  have  shared  such  modern 
sentiment,  it  is  hard  to  say.  At  any  rate  his  personal 
feeling  is  kept  in  the  background ;  it  is  postponed  to 
the  more  patient  and  deliberate  judgment  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  and  subordinated  to  broad  considerations  of 
public  morality.  We  have  no  right  to  contrast  Jeremiah 
with  our  Lord  and  His  proto-martyr  Stephen,  because 
we  have  no  prayer  of  the  ancient  prophet  to  rank  with, 
"  Father,  forgive  them ;  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do,"  or  again  with,  "  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their 
charge."  Christ  and  His  disciple  forgave  wrongs  done 
to  themselves  :  they  did  not  condone  the  murder  of 
their  brethren.  In  the  Apocalypse,  which  concludes 
the  English  Bible,  and  was  long  regarded  as  God's 
final  revelation.  His  last  word  to  man,  the  souls  of  the 
martyrs  cry  out  from  beneath  the  altar :  "  How  long, 
O  Master,  the  holy  and  true,  dost  Thou  not  judge  and 
avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  ?  "  ^ 

Doubtless  God  will  avenge  His  own  elect,  and  the 
appeal  for  justice  may  be  neither  ignoble  nor  vindictive. 
But  such  prayers,  beyond  all  others,  must  be  offered 
in  humble  submission  to  the  Judge  of  all.  When 
our  righteous  indignation  claims  to  pass  its  own 
sentence,  we   do  well    to  remember  that  our   halting 

*  Jude  9.  -  Ape.  vi.  10. 


xxii.  13-19,  xxxvi.  30,  31.]    THE  JUDGMENT  ON  JEHOIAKIM  69 

intellect  and  our  purblind  conscience  are  ill  qualified 
to  sit  as  assessors  of  the  Eternal  Justice. 

When  Saul  set  out  for  Damascus,  ''breathing  out 
threatening  and  slaughter  against  the  disciples  of  the 
Lord,"  the  survivors  of  his  victims  cried  out  for  a  swift 
punishment  of  the  persecutor,  and  believed  that  their 
prayers  were  echoed  by  martyred  souls  in  the  heavenly 
Temple.  If  that  ninth  chapter  of  the  Acts  had  recorded 
how  Saul  of  Tarsus  was  struck  dead  by  the  lightnings 
of  the  wrath  of  God,  preachers  down  all  the  Christian 
centuries  would  have  moralised  on  the  righteous  Divine 
judgment.  Saul  would  have  found  his  place  in  the 
homiletic  Chamber  of  Horrors  with  Ananias  and 
Sapphira,  Herod  and  Pilate,  Nero  and  Diocletian.  Yet 
the  Captain  of  our  salvation,  choosing  His  lieutenants, 
passes  over  many  a  man  with  blameless  record,  and 
allots  the  highest  post  to  this  blood-stained  persecutor. 
No  wonder  that  Paul,  if  only  in  utter  self-contempt, 
emphasised  the  doctrine  of  Divine  election.  Verily 
God's  ways  are  not  our  ways  and  His  thoughts  are 
not  our  thoughts. 

Still,  however,  we  easily  see  that  Paul  and  Jehoiakim 
belong  to  two  different  classes.  The  persecutor  who 
attempts  in  honest  but  misguided  zeal  to  make  others 
endorse  his  own  prejudices,  and  turn  a  deaf  ear  with 
him  to  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  must  not  be 
ranked  with  politicians  who  sacrifice  to  their  own 
private  interests  the  Revelation  and  the  Prophets  of 
God. 

This  prediction  which  we  have  been  discussing  of 
Jehoiakim's  shameful  end  is  followed  in  the  passage 
in  chapter  xxxvi.  by  a  general  announcement  of  uni- 
versal judgment,  couched  in  Jeremiah's  usual  compre- 
hensive style : — 


70  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

"  I  will  visit  their  sin  upon  him  and  upon  his 
children  and  upon  his  servants,  and  I  will  bring  upon 
them  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  and  the  men  of 
Judah  all  the  evil  which  I  spake  unto  them  and  they 
did  not  hearken." 

In  chapter  xxii.  the  sentence  upon  Jehoiakim  is  pre- 
faced by  a  statement  of  the  crimes  for  which  he  was 
punished.  His  eyes  and  his  heart  were  wholly 
possessed  by  avarice  and  cruelty ;  as  an  administrator 
he  was  active  in  oppression  and  violence.^  But  Jere- 
miah does  not  confine  himself  to  these  general  charges ; 
he  specifies  and  emphasises  one  particular  form  of 
Jelioiakim's  Vv^rong-doing,  the  tyrannous  exaction  of 
forced  labour  for  his  buildings.  To  the  sovereigns 
of  petty  S3^rian  states,  old  Memphis  and  Babylon  were 
then  what  London  and  Paris  are  to  modern  Ameers, 
Khedives,  and  Sultans.  Circumstances,  indeed,  did  not 
permit  a  Syrian  prince  to  visit  the  Egyptian  or  Chaldean 
capital  with  perfect  comfort  and  unrestrained  enjoy- 
ment. Ancient  Eastern  potentates,  Hke  mediaeval 
suzerains,  did  not  always  distinguish  between  a  guest 
and  a  hostage.  But  the  Jewish  kings  would  not  be 
debarred  from  importing  the  luxuries  and  imitating  the 
vices  of  their  conquerors. 

Renan  says  ^  of  this  period  :  ^'  L'Egypte  etait,  h  cette 
epoque,  le  pays  ou  les  industries  de  luxe  etaient  le  plus 
developpees.  Tout  le  monde  raffolaient,  en  particulier, 
de  sa  carrosserie  et  de  ses  meubles  ouvrages.  Joiaquin 
et  la  noblesse  de  Jerusalem  ne  songeaient  qu'a  se 
procurer  ces  beaux  objets,  qui  realisaient  ce  qu'on  avait 
vu  de  plus  exquis  en  fait  de  gout  jusque-la." 

'  xxii.  17.  The  exact  meaning  of  the  word  translated  "violence" 
(so  A. v.,  R.V.)  is  very  doubtful. 

^  Hist.,  etc.,  iii.  266.  '^ 


xxii.  13-19,  xxxvi.  30, 31.]    THE  JUDGMENT  ON  JEHOIAKIM  71 

The  supreme  luxury  of  vulgar  minds  is  the  use  of 
wealth  as  a  means  of  display,  and  monarchs  have 
always  delighted  in  the  erection  of  vast  and  ostentatious 
buildings.  At  this  time  Egypt  and  Babylon  vied  with 
one  another  in  pretentious  architecture.  In  addition 
to  much  useful  engineering  work,  Psammetichus  I. 
m.ade  large  additions  to  the  temples  and  public 
edifices  at  Memphis,  Thebes,  Sais,  and  elsewhere,  so 
that  "  the  entire  valley  of  the  Nile  became  little  more 
than  one  huge  workshop,  where  stone-cutters  and 
masons,  bricklayers  and  carpenters,  laboured  inces- 
santly." ^  This  activity  in  building  continued  even 
after  the  disaster  to  the  Egyptian  arms  at  Carchemish. 

Nebuchadnezzar  had  an  absolute  mania  for  architec- 
ture. His  numerous  inscriptions  are  mere  catalogues 
of  his  achievements  in  building.  His  home  administra- 
tion and  even  his  extensive  conquests  are  scarcely 
noticed  ;  he  held  them  of  little  account  compared  with 
his  temples  and  palaces — ''  this  great  Babylon,  which 
I  have  built  for  the  royal  dwelling-place,  by  the  might 
of  my  power  and  for  the  glory  of  my  majesty."  ^  Nebu- 
chadnezzar created  most  of  the  magnificence  that 
excited  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  Herodotus  a 
century  later. 

Jehoiakim  had  been  moved  to  follow  the  notable 
example  of  Chaldea  and  Egypt.  By  a  strange  irony 
of  fortune,  Egypt,  once  the  cynosure  of  nations,  has 
become  in  our  own  time  the  humble  imitator  of  Western 
civilisation,  and  now  boulevards  have  rendered  the 
suburbs  of  Cairo  "  a  shabby  reproduction  of  modern 
Paris."  Possibly  in  the  eyes  of  Egyptians  and 
Chaldeans    Jehoiakim's     efforts    only    resulted    in    a 

^  Rawlinson,  Ancient  Egypt  (Story  of  the  Nations). 
^  Dan.  iv.  30. 


72  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

"  shabby  reproduction  "  of  Memphis  or  Babylon. 
Nevertheless  these  foreign  luxuries  are  always  expen- 
sive ;  and  minor  states  had  not  then  learnt  the  art 
of  trading  on  the  resources  of  their  powerful  neigh- 
bours by  means  of  foreign  loans.  Moreover  Judah 
had  to  pay  tribute  first  to  Pharaoh  Necho,  and  then 
to  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  times  were  bad,  and  addi- 
tional taxes  for  building  purposes  must  have  been  felt 
as  an  intolerable  oppression.  Naturally  the  king  did 
not  pay  for  his  labour;  like  Solomon  and  all  other 
great  Eastern  despots,  he  had  recourse  to  the  corvee^ 
and  for  this  in  particular  Jeremiah  denounced  him. 

"Woe  unto  him  that  buildeth  his  house  by  unrighteousness 

And  his  chambers  by  injustice ; 
That  maketh  his  neighbour  toil  without  wages, 

And  giveth  him  no  hire  ; 
That  saith,  '  I  will  build  me  a  wide  house 

And  spacious  chambers,' 
And  openeth  out  broad  windows,  with  woodwork  of  cedar 

And  vermilion  painting." 

Then  the  denunciation  passes  into  biting  sarcasm  : — 

"Art  thou  indeed  a  king, 
Because  thou  strivest  to  excel  in  cedar  ?  " ' 

Poor  imitations  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  magnificent 
structures  could  not  conceal  the  impotence  and  de- 
pendence of  the  Jewish  king.  The  pretentiousness 
of  Jehoiakim's  buildings  challenged  a  comparison  which 
only  reminded  men  that  he  was  a  mere  puppet,  with 
its  strings  pulled  nov/  by  Egypt  and  now  by  Babylon. 
At  best  he  was  only  reigning  on  sufferance. 

'  I  have  followed  R.V.,  but  the  text  is  probably  corrupt.  Cheyne 
follows  LXX.  (A)  in  reading  "because  thou  viest  with  Ahab": 
LXX.  (B)  has  "Ahaz"  (so  Ewald).  Gicsebrecht  proposes  to  neglect 
the  accents  and  translate,  "  viest  in  cedar  buildings  with  thy  father" 
(i.e.  Solomon). 


xxii.  13-19,  xxxvi.  30,  31.]    THE  JUDGMENT  ON  JEHOIAKIM   73 

Jeremiah  contrasts  Jehoiakim's  government  both  as 
to  justice  and  dignity  with  that  of  Josiah  : — 

"  Did  not  thy  father  eat  and  drink  ?  " ' 

(He  was  no  ascetic,  but,  like  the  Son  of  Man,  hved 
a  full,  natural,  human  life.) 

"And  do  judgment  and  justice? 
Then  did  he  prosper. 

He  judged  the  cause  of  the  poor  and  needy, 
Then  was  there  prosperity. 
Is  not  this  to  know  Me  ? 
Jehovah  hath  spoken  it." 

Probably  Jehoiakim  claimed  by  some  external  observ- 
ance, or  through  some  subservient  priest  or  prophet, 
to  ''  know  Jehovah " ;  and  Jeremiah  repudiates  the 
claim. 

Josiah  had  reigned  in  the  period  when  the  decay  of 
Assyria  left  Judah  dominant  in  Palestine,  until  Egypt 
or  Chaldea  could  find  time  to  gather  up  the  outlying 
fragments  of  the  shattered  empire.  The  Vv^isdom  and 
justice  of  the  Jewish  king  had  used  this  breathing 
space  for  the  advantage  and  happiness  of  his  people ; 
and  during  part  of  his  reign  Josiah's  power  seems  to 
have  been  as  extensive  as  that  of  any  of  his  predecessors 
on  the  throne  of  Judah.  And  yet,  according  to  current 
theology,  Jeremiah's  appeal  to  the  prosperity  of  Josiah 
as  a  proof  of  God's  approbation  was  a  startHng  anomaly. 
Josiah  had  been  defeated  and  slain  at  Megiddo  in  the 
prime  of  his  manhood,  at  the  age  of  thirty-nine.  None 
but  the  most  independent  and  enlightened  spirits  could 
believe  that   the   Reformer's  premature  death,   at   the 

'  According  to  Giesebrecht  (cf.  however  the  last  note)  this  clause 
is  an  objection  which  the  prophet  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  king. 
"  My  father  enjoyed  the  good  things  of  life — why  should  not  I?"  The 
prophet  rejoins,  "  Nay,  but  he  did  judgment,"  etc. 


74  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

moment  when  his  poHcy  had  resulted  in  national 
disaster,  was  not  an  emphatic  declaration  of  Divine 
displeasure.  Jeremiah's  contrary  belief  might  be 
explained  and  justified.  Some  such  justification  is 
suggested  by  the  prophet's  utterance  concerning 
Jehoahaz  :  "  Weep  not  for  the  dead,  neither  bemoan 
him  :  but  weep  sore  for  him  that  goeth  away."  Josiah 
had  reigned  with  real  authority,  he  died  when  inde- 
pendence was  no  longer  possible ;  and  therein  he  was 
happier  and  more  honourable  than  his  successors,  who 
held  a  vassal  throne  by  the  uncertain  tenure  of  time- 
serving duplicity,  and  were  for  the  most  part  carried 
into  captivity.  *'  The  righteous  was  taken  away  from 
the  evil  to  come."  ^ 

The  warHke  spirit  of  classical  antiquity  and  of 
Teutonic  chivalry  welcomed  a  glorious  death  upon  the 
field  of  battle  :— 

"And  how  can  man  die  better 

Than  facing  fearful  odds, 

For  the  ashes  of  his  fathers, 

And  the  temples  of  his  Gods  ?  " 

No  one  spoke  of  Leonidas  as  a  victim  of  Divine  wrath. 
Later  Judaism  caught  something  of  the  same  temper. 
Judas  Maccabseus,  when  in  extreme  danger,  said,  ''  It 
is  better  for  us  to  die  in  battle,  than  to  look  upon  the 
evils  of  our  people  and  our  sanctuary  "  ;  and  later  on, 
when  he  refused  to  flee  from  inevitable  death,  he 
claimed  that  he  would  leave  behind  him  no  stain  upon 
his  honour.^  Islam  also  is  prodigal  in  its  promises  of 
future  bliss  to  those  soldiers  who  fall  fighting  for  its 
sake. 

But    the    dim    and    dreary   Sheol    of    the    ancient 

*  Isa.  Ivii.  (English  Versions).  ^  Mace.  ii.  59,  ix.  10. 


xxii.  13-19,  xxxvi.  30,  3 1 .]    THE  JUDGMENT  ON  JEHOIAKIM   75 

Hebrews  was  no  glorious  Valhalla  or  houri-peopled 
Paradise.  The  renown  of  the  battle-field  was  poor 
compensation  for  the  warm,  full-blooded  life  of  the 
upper  air.  When  David  sang  his  dirge  for  Saul  and 
Jonathan,  he  found  no  comfort  in  the  thought  that 
they  had  died  fighting  for  Israel.  Moreover  the 
warrior's  self-sacrifice  for  his  country  seems  futile  and 
inglorious,  w^hen  it  neither  secures  victory  nor  post- 
pones defeat.  And  at  Megiddo  Josiah  and  his  army 
perished  in  a  vain  attempt  to  come 

"Between  the  pass  and  fell  incensed  points 
Of  mighty  opposites." 

We  can  hardly  justify  to  ourselves  Jeremiah's  use  of 
Josiah's  reign  as  an  example  of  prosperity  as  the 
reward  of  righteousness ;  his  contemporaries  must 
have  been  still  more  difficult  to  convince.  We  cannot 
understand  how  the  words  of  this  prophecy  were  left 
without  any  attempt  at  justification,  or  why  Jeremiah 
did  not  meet  by  anticipation  the  obvious  and  appa- 
rently crushing  rejoinder  that  the  reign  terminated  in 
disgrace  and  disaster. 

Nevertheless  these  difficulties  do  not  affect  the  terms 
of  the  sentence  upon  Jehoiakim,  or  the  ground  upon 
which  he  was  condemned.  We  shall  be  better  able 
to  appreciate  Jeremiah's  attitude  and  to  discover  its 
lessons  if  we  venture  to  reconsider  his  decisions.  We 
cannot  forget  that  there  was,  as  Cheyne  puts  it,  a 
duel  between  Jeremiah  and  Jehoiakim ;  and  we  should 
hesitate  to  accept  the  verdict  of  Hildebrand  upon 
Henry  IV.  of  Germany,  or  of  Thomas  a  Becket  on 
Henry  II.  of  England.  Moreover  the  data  upon  which 
we  have  to  base  our  judgment,  including  the  unfavour- 
able estimate  in  the  Book  of  Kings,  come  to  us  from 


76  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Jeremiah  or  his  disciples.  Our  ideas  about  Queen 
EHzabeth  would  be  more  striking  than  accurate  if  our 
only  authorities  for  her  reign  were  Jesuit  historians 
of  England.  But  Jeremiah  is  absorbed  in  lofty  moral 
and  spiritual  issues ;  his  testimony  is  not  tainted  with 
that  sectarian  and  sacerdotal  casuistry  which  is  always 
so  ready  to  subordinate  truth  to  the  interests  of  "  the 
Church."  He  speaks  of  facts  with  a  simple  directness 
which  leaves  us  in  no  doubt  as  to  their  reality;  his 
picture  of  Jehoiakim  may  be  one-sided,  but  it  owes 
nothing  to  an  inventive  imagination. 

Even  Renan,  who,  in  Ophite  fashion,  holds  a  brief 
for  the  bad  characters  of  the  Old  Testament,  does 
not  seriously  challenge  Jeremiah's  statements  of  fact. 
But  the  judgment  of  the  modern  critic  seems  at  first 
sight  more  lenient  than  that  of  the  Hebrew  prophet : 
the  former  sees  in  Jehoiakim  '^un  prince  liberal  et 
modere,"^  but  when  this  favourable  estimate  is  coupled 
with  an  apparent  comparison  with  Louis  Philippe, 
we  must  leave  students  of  modern  history  to  decide 
whether  Renan  is  really  less  severe  than  Jeremiah. 
Cheyne,  on  the  other  hand,  holds ^  that  "we  have  no 
reason  to  question  Jeremiah's  verdict  upon  Jehoiakim, 
who,  alike  from  a  religious  and  a  political  point  of 
view,  appears  to  have  been  unequal  to  the  crisis  in 
the  fortunes  of  Israel."  No  doubt  this  is  true;  and 
yet  perhaps  Renan  is  so  far  right  that  Jehoiakim's 
failure  was  rather  his  misfortune  than  his  fault.  We 
may  doubt  whether  any  king  of  Israel  or  Judah  would 
have  been  equal  to  the  supreme  crisis  which  Jehoiakim 
had  to  face.  Our  scanty  information  seems  to  indicate 
a  man  of  strong  will,  determined  character,  and  able 

'  iii.  269.  -  P.  142. 


xxii.  13-19,  xxxvi.  30, 3 1 .]    THE  JUDGMENT  ON  JEHOIAKIM  77 

Statesmanship.  Though  the  nominee  of  Pharaoh 
Necho,  he  retained  his  sceptre  under  Nebuchadnezzar, 
and  held  his  own  against  Jeremiah  and  the  powerful 
party  by  which  the  prophet  was  supported.  Under 
more  favourable  conditions  he  might  have  rivalled 
Uzziah  or  Jeroboam  II.  In  the  time  of  Jehoiakim,  a 
supreme  political  and  military  genius  would  have  been 
as  helpless  on  the  throne  of  Judah  as  were  the 
Palseologi  in  the  last  days  of  the  Empire  at  Con- 
stantinople. Something  may  be  said  to  extenuate  his 
religious  attitude.  In  opposing  Jeremiah  he  was  not 
defying  clear  and  acknowledged  truth.  Like  the 
Pharisees  in  their  conflict  with  Christ,  the  persecuting 
king  had  popular  religious  sentiment  on  his  side. 
According  to  that  current  theology  which  had  been 
endorsed  in  some  measure  even  by  Isaiah  and  Jere- 
miah, the  defeat  at  Megiddo  proved  that  Jehovah 
repudiated  the  religious  policy  of  Josiah  and  his 
advisers.  The  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit  enabled 
Jeremiah  to  resist  this  shallow  conclusion,  and  to 
maintain  through  every  crisis  his  unshaken  faith  in 
the  profounder  truth.  Jehoiakim  was  too  conservative 
to  surrender  at  the  prophet's  bidding  the  long-accepted 
and  fundamental  doctrine  of  retribution,  and  to  follow 
the  forward  leading  of  Revelation.  He  "stood  by 
the  old  truth "  as  did  Charles  V.  at  the  Reformation. 
''Let  him  that  is  without  sin"  in  this  matter  "first 
cast  a  stone  at"  him. 

Though  we  extenuate  Jehoiakim's  conduct,  we  are 
still  bound  to  condemn  it ;  not  however  because  he 
was  exceptionally  wicked,  but  because  he  failed  to 
rise  above  a  low  spiritual  average  :  yet  in  this  judg- 
ment we  also  condemn  ourselves  for  our  own  in- 
tolerance,  and   for  the  prejudice  and    self-will  which 


78  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

have  often  blinded  our  eyes  to  the  teachings  of  our 
Lord  and  Master. 

But  Jeremiah  emphasises  one  special  charge  against 
the  king — his  exaction  of  forced  and  unpaid  labour. 
This  form  of  taxation  was  in  itself  so  universal  that 
the  censure  can  scarcely  be  directed  against  its  ordinary 
and  moderate  exercise.  If  Jeremiah  had  intended  to 
inaugurate  a  new  departure,  he  would  have  approached 
the  subject  in  a  more  formal  and  less  casual  fashion. 
It  was  a  time  of  national  danger  and  distress,  when 
all  moral  and  material  resources  were  needed  to  avert 
the  ruin  of  the  state,  or  at  any  rate  to  mitigate  the 
sufferings  of  the  people ;  and  at  such  a  time  Jehoiakim 
exhausted  and  embittered  his  subjects — that  he  might 
dwell  in  spacious  halls  with  woodwork  of  cedar.  The 
Temple  and  palaces  of  Solomon  had  been  built  at  the 
expense  of  a  popular  resentment,  which  survived  for 
centuries,  and  with  which,  as  their  silence  seems  to 
show,  the  prophets  fully  sympathised.  If  even  Solomon's 
exactions  were  culpable,  Jehoiakim  was  altogether 
without  excuse. 

His  sin  was  that  common  to  all  governments,  the 
use  of  the  authority  of  the  state  for  private  ends.  This 
sin  is  possible  not  only  to  sovereigns  and  secretaries 
of  state,  but  to  every  town  councillor  and  every  one 
who  has  a  friend  on  a  town  council,  nay,  to  every  clerk 
in  a  public  office  and  to  every  workman  in  a  govern- 
ment dockyard.  A  king  squandering  public  revenues 
on  private  pleasures,  and  an  artisan  pilfering  nails  and 
iron  with  an  easy  conscience  because  they  only  belong 
to  the  state,  are  guilty  of  crimes  essentially  the  same. 
On  the  one  hand,  Jehoiakim  as  the  head  of  the  state 
was  oppressing  individuals ;  and  although  modern 
states  have  grown  comparatively  tender  as  to  the  rights 


xxii.  13-19,  xxxvi.  30, 3 1 .]    THE  JUDGMENT  ON  JEHOIAKIM   79 

of  the  individual,  yet  even  now  their  action  is  often 
cruelly  oppressive  to  insignificant  minorities.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  right  of  exacting  labour  was  only 
vested  in  the  king  as  a  public  trust ;  its  abuse  was  as 
much  an  injury  to  the  community  as  to  individuals. 
If  Jeremiah  had  to  deal  with  modern  civilisation,  we 
might,  perchance,  be  startled  by  his  passing  lightly 
over  our  religious  and  political  controversies  to  denounce 
the  squandering  of  public  resources  in  the  interests  of 
individuals  and  classes,  sects  and  parties. 


CHAPTER  VII 

JEHOIACHIN' 
xxii.  20-30. 

"A  despised  broken  vessel." — Jer.  xxii.  28. 

"A  young  lion.  And  he  went  up  and  down  among  the  lions,  he 
became  a  young  lion  and  he  learned  to  catch  the  prey,  he  devoured 
men." — Ezek.  xix.  5,  6. 

"  Jehoiachin  ...  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  Jehovah,  according  to  all 
that  his  father  had  done." — 2  Kings  xxiv.  8,  9. 

WE  have  seen  that  our  book  does  not  furnish 
a  consecutive  biography  of  Jeremiah;  we  are 
not  even  certain  as  to  the  chronological  order  of  the 
incidents  narrated.  Yet  these  chapters  are  clear  and 
full  enough  to  give  us  an  accurate  idea  of  what  Jeremiah 
did  and  suffered  during  the  eleven  years  of  Jehoiakim's 
reign.  He  was  forced  to  stand  by  while  the  king  lent 
the  weight  of  his  authority  to  the  ancient  corruptions 
of  the  national  religion,  and  conducted  his  home  and 
foreign  policy  without  any  regard  to  the  will  of  Jehovah, 
as  expressed  by  His  prophet.  His  position  was 
analogous  to  that  of  a  Romanist  priest  under  Elizabeth 
or  a  Protestant  divine  in  the  reign  of  James  II.  Accord- 
ing to  some  critics,  Nebuchadnezzar  was  to  Jeremiah 
what  Philip  of  Spain  was  to  the  priest  and  WiUiam  of 
Orange  to  the  Puritan. 

During  all  these  long  and  weary  years,  the  prophet 

*  Also  called  Coniah  and  Jeconiah. 
80 


X xii .  20-30.  ]  JEHOIA  CHIN  8 1 

watched  the  ever  multiplying  tokens  of  approaching 
ruin.  He  was  no  passive  spectator,  but  a  faithful 
watchman  to  the  house  of  Israel ;  again  and  again  he 
risked  his  life  in  a  vain  attempt  to  make  his  fellow- 
countrymen  aware  of  their  danger.^  The  vision  of  the 
coming  sword  was  ever  before  his  eyes,  and  he  blew 
the  trumpet  and  warned  the  people ;  but  they  would  not 
be  warned,  and  the  prophet  knew  that  the  sword  would 
come  and  take  them  away  in  their  iniquity.  He  paid 
the  penalty  of  his  faithfulness ;  at  one  time  or  another 
he  was  beaten,  imprisoned,  proscribed,  and  driven  to 
hide  himself;  still  he  persevered  in  his  mission,  as  time 
and  occasion  served.  Yet  he  survived  Jehoiakim,  partly 
because  he  was  more  anxious  to  serve  Jehovah  than 
to  gain  the  glorious  deliverance  of  martyrdom ;  partly 
because  his  royal  enemy  feared  to  proceed  to  extremi- 
ties against  a  prophet  of  Jehovah,  who  was  befriended 
by  powerful  nobles,  and  might  possibly  have  relations 
with  Nebuchadnezzar  himself.  Jehoiakim's  religion — 
for  Hke  the  Athenians  he  was  probably  *' very  religious  " 
— was  saturated  with  superstition,  and  it  was  only 
when  deeply  moved  that  he  lost  the  sense  of  an  external 
sanctity  attaching  to  Jeremiah's  person.  In  Israel 
prophets  were  hedged  by  a  more  potent  divinity  than 
kings. 

Meanwhile  Jeremiah  was  growing  old  in  years  and 
older  in .  experience.  When  Jehoiakim  died,  it  was 
nearly  forty  years  since  the  young  priest  had  first  been 
called  "  to  pluck  up  and  to  break  down,  and  to  destroy 
and  to  overthrow ;  to  build  and  to  plant  " ;  it  was  more 
than  eleven  since  his  brighter  hopes  were  buried  in 
Josiah's  grave.     Jehovah  had  promised  that  He  would 

^  Considerable  portions  of  chaps,  i. — xx.  are  referred  to  the  reigns 
of  Jehoiakim  and  Jehoiachin :  see  previous  volume  on  Jeremiah. 

6 


82  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

make  His  servant  into  ^'  an  iron  pillar  and  brasen 
walls."  ^  The  iron  was  tempered  and  hammered  into 
shape  during  these  days  of  conflict  and  endurance, 
like— 

"...  iron  dug  from  central  gloom, 

And  heated  hot  with  burning  fears 
And  dipt  in  baths  of  hissing  tears, 

And  battered  with  the  shocks  of  doom, 

To  shape  and  use." 

He  had  long  lost  all  trace  of  that  sanguine  youthful 
enthusiasm  which  promises  to  carry  all  before  it.  His 
opening  manhood  had  felt  its  happy  illusions,  but  they 
did  not  dominate  his  soul  and  they  soon  passed  away. 
At  the  Divine  bidding,  he  had  surrendered  his  most 
ingrained  prejudices,  his  dearest  desires.  He  had 
consented  to  be  alienated  from  his  brethren  at  Anathoth, 
and  to  live  vv^ithout  home  or  family ;  although  a  patriot, 
he  accepted  the  inevitable  ruin  of  his  nation  as  the  just 
judgment  of  Jehovah ;  he  was  a  priest,  imbued  by 
heredity  and  education  with  the  religious  traditions 
of  Israel,  yet  he  had  yielded  himself  to  Jehovah,  to 
announce,  as  His  herald,  the  destruction  of  the  Temple, 
and  the  devastation  of  the  Holy  Land.  He  had  sub- 
mitted his  shrinking  flesh  and  reluctant  spirit  to  God's 
most  unsparing  demands,  and  had  dared  the  worst  that 
man  could  inflict.  Such  surrender  and  such  expe- 
riences wrought  in  him  a  certain  stern  and  terrible 
strength,  and  made  his  life  still  more  remote  from  the 
hopes  and  fears,  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  common  men. 
In  his  isolation  and  his  inspired  self-sufficiency  he  had 
become  an  "iron  pillar."  Doubtless  he  seemed  to 
many  as  hard  and  cold  as  iron  ;  but  this  pillar  of  the 


i.  i8. 


xxii.20-30.]  JEHOIACHIN  83 

faith  could  still  glow  with  white  heat  of  indignant 
passion,  and  within  the  shelter  of  the  ''brasen  walls  " 
there  still  beat  a  human  heart,  touched  with  tender 
sympathy  for  those  less  disciplined  to  endure. 

We  have  thus  tried  to  estimate  the  development  of 
Jeremiah's  character  during  the  second  period  of  his 
ministry,  which  began  with  the  death  of  Josiah  and 
terminated  with  the  brief  reign  of  Jehoiachin.  Before 
considering  Jeremiah's  judgment  upon  this  prince  we 
will  review  the  scanty  data  at  our  disposal  to  enable 
us  to  appreciate  the  prophet's  verdict. 

Jehoiakim  died  while  Nebuchadnezzar  was  on  the 
march  to  punish  his  rebellion.  His  son  Jehoiachin, 
a  youth  of  eighteen,^  succeeded  his  father  and  con- 
tinued his  policy.  Thus  the  accession  of  the  new  king 
was  no  new  departure,  but  merely  a  continuance  of  the 
old  order ;  the  government  was  still  in  the  hands  of 
the  party  attached  to  Egypt,  and  opposed  to  Babylon 
and  hostile  to  Jeremiah.  Under  these  circumstances 
we  are  bound  to  accept  the  statement  of  Kings  that 
Jehoiakim  *'  slept  with  his  fathers,"  i.e.  was  buried  in 
the  royal  sepulchre.^  There  was  no  literal  fulfilment 
of  the  prediction  that  he  should  ''be  buried  with  the 
burial  of  an  ass."  Jeremiah  had  also  declared  con- 
cerning Jehoiakim  :  ''  He  shall  have  none  to  sit  upon 
the  throne  of  David."  ^     According  to   popular  super- 

'  The  Chronicler's  account  of  Jehoiakim's  end  (2Chron.  xxviii.  6-8) 
is  due  to  a  misunderstanding  of  the  older  records.  According  to 
Chronicles  Jehoiachin  was  only  eight,  but  all  our  data  indicate  that 
Kings  is  right. 

^  In  LXX.  of  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  8,  Jehoiakim,  like  Manasseh  and 
Amon,  was  "  buried  in  the  garden  of  Uzza  " :  B,  Ganozae ;  A,  Ganozan. 
Cheyne  is  inclined  to  accept  this  statement,  which  he  regards  as 
derived  from  tradition. 


84  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

stition,  the  honourable  burial  of  Jehoiakim  and  the 
succession  of  his  son  to  the  throne  further  discredited 
Jeremiah  and  his  teaching.  Men  read  happy  omens 
in  the  mere  observance  of  ordinary  constitutional 
routine.  The  curse  upon  Jehoiakim  seemed  so  much 
spent  breath  :  why  should  not  Jeremiah's  other  pre- 
dictions of  ruin  and  exile  also  prove  a  mere  vox  et 
prceterea  nihill  In  spite  of  a  thousand  disappointments, 
men's  hopes  still  turned  to  Egypt ;  and  if  earthly  re- 
sources failed  they  trusted  to  Jehovah  Himself  to  inter- 
vene, and  deliver  Jerusalem  from  the  advancing  hosts 
of  Nebuchadnezzar,  as  from  the  army  of  Sennacherib. 

Ezekiel's  elegy  over  Jehoiachin  suggests  that  the 
young  king  displayed  energy  and  courage  worthy  of 
a  better  fortune  : — 

"  He  walked  up  and  down  among  the  lions, 

He  became  a  young  lion ; 
He  learned  to  catch  the  prey, 

He  devoured  men. 
He  broke  down  *  their  palaces, 

He  wasted  their  cities ; 
The  land  was  desolate,  and  the  fulness  thereof, 

At  the  noise  of  his  roaring." - 

However  figurative  these  lines  may  be,  the  hyperbole 
must  have  had  some  basis  in  fact.  Probably  before 
the  regular  Babylonian  army  entered  Judah,  Jehoiachin 
distinguished  himself  by  brilliant  but  useless  successes 
against  the  marauding  bands  of  Chaldeans,  Syrians, 
Moabites,  and  Ammonites,  who  had  been  sent  to  pre- 

'  So  A.  B.  Davidson  in  Cambridge  Bible,  etc.,  by  a  slight  conjectural 
emendation;  there  have  been  many  other  suggested  corrections  of 
the  text.  The  Hebrew  text  as  it  stands  would  mean  literally  "he 
knew  their  widows  "  (R. V.  margin) ;  A.V.,  R. V.,  by  a  slight  change, 
"  he  knew  their  (A.V.  desolate)  palaces." 

*  Ezek.  xix.  5-7. 


xxii .  20-30.]  JEHOIA  CHIN 


pare  the  way  for  the  main  body.  He  may  even  have 
carried  his  victorious  arms  into  the  territory  of  Moab 
or  Ammon.  But  his  career  was  speedily  cut  short : 
''The  servants  of  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon 
came  up  to  Jerusalem  and  besieged  the  city."  Pharaoh 
Necho  made  no  sign,  and  Jehoiachin  was  forced  to 
retire  before  the  regular  forces  of  Babylon,  and  soon 
found  himself  shut  up  in  Jerusalem.  Still  for  a  time 
he  held  out,  but  when  it  was  known  in  the  beleaguered 
city  that  Nebuchadnezzar  was  present  in  person  in 
the  camp  of  the  besiegers,  the  Jewish  captains  lost 
heart.  Perhaps  too  they  hoped  for  better  treatment, 
if  they  appealed  to  the  conqueror's  vanity  by  offering 
him  an  immediate  submission  which  they  had  refused 
to  his  lieutenants.  The  gates  were  thrown  open ; 
Jehoiachin  and  the  Queen  Mother,  Nehushta,  with  his 
ministers  and  princes  and  the  officers  of  his  household, 
passed  out  in  suppliant  procession,  and  placed  them- 
selves and  their  city  at  the  disposal  of  the  conqueror. 
In  pursuance  of  the  policy  which  Nebuchadnezzar  had 
inherited  from  the  Assyrians,  the  king  and  his  court 
and  eight  thousand  picked  men  were  carried  away 
captive  to  Babylon.-^  For  thirty-seven  years  Jehoiachin 
languished  in  a  Chaldean  prison,  till  at  last  his 
sufferings  were  mitigated  by  an  act  of  grace,  which 
signalised  the  accession  of  a  new  king  of  Babylon. 
Nebuchadnezzar's  successor  Evil  Merodach,  ''  in  the 
year  when  he  began  to  reign,  lifted  up  the  head  of 
Jehoiachin  king  of  Judah  out  of  prison,  and  spake 
kindly  to  him,  and  set  his  throne  above  the  throne  of 
the  kings  that  were  with  him  in  Babylon.  And 
Jehoiachin  changed  his  prison  garments,   and    ate   at 


*  2  Kings  xxiv.  8-17. 


86  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

the  royal  table  continually  all  the  days  of  his  life,  and 
had  a  regular  allowance  given  him  by  the  king,  a 
daily  portion,  all  the  days  of  his  life."^  At  the  age  of 
fifty-five,  the  last  survivor  of  the  reigning  princes  of 
the  house  of  David  emerges  from  his  dungeon,  broken 
in  mind  and  body  by  his  long  captivity,  to  be  a 
grateful  dependent  upon  the  charity  of  Evil  Merodach, 
just  as  the  survivor  of  the  house  of  Saul  had  sat  at 
David's  table.  The  young  lion  that  devoured  the  prey 
and  caught  men  and  wasted  cities  was  thankful  to  be 
allowed  to  creep  out  of  his  cage  and  die  in  comfort — 
*'  a  despised  broken  vessel." 

We  feel  a  shock  of  surprise  and  repulsion  as  we 
turn  from  this  pathetic  story  to  Jeremiah's  fierce 
invectives  against  the  unhappy^  king.  But  we  wrong 
the  prophet  and  misunderstand  his  utterance  if  we 
forget  that  it  v/as  delivered  during  that  brief  frenzy 
in  which  the  3^oung  king  and  his  advisers  threw  away 
the  last  chance  of  safety  for  Judah.  Jehoiachin  might 
have  repudiated  his  father's  rebellion  against  Babylon ; 
Jehoiakim's  death  had  removed  the  chief  offender,  no 
personal  blame  attached  to  his  successor,  and  a  prompt 
submission  might  have  appeased  Nebuchadnezzar's 
wrath  against  Judah  and  obtained  his  favour  for  the 
new  king.  If  a  hot-headed  young  rajah  of  some 
protected  Indian  state  revolted  against  the  English 
suzerainty  and  exposed  his  country  to  the  misery  of 
a  hopeless  war,  we  should  sympathise  with^ny  of  his 
counsellors  who  condemned  such  wilful  folly  ;  we  have 
no  right  toi  find  -fault  with  Jeremiah  for  his  severe 
censure  of  the  reckless  vanity  which  precipitated  his 
country's  fate. 

'  2  Kings  XXV.  27-30;  Jer.  Hi.  31-34. 


xxii.2o-3o.]  JEHOIACHIN  87 

Jeremiah's  deep  and  absorbing  interest  in  Judah  and 
Jerusalem  is  indicated  by  the  form  of  this  utterance ; 
it  is  addressed  to  the  "  Daughter  of  Zion  "  ^ : — 

"Go  up  to  Lebanon,  and   lament, 
And  lift  up  thy  voice  in  Bashan, 
And  lament  from  Abarim,- 
For  thy  lovers  are  all  destroyed  1 " 

Her  '^  lovers,"  her  heathen  allies,  whether  gods  or 
men,  are  impotent,  and  Judah  is  as  forlorn  and  helpless 
as  a  lonely  and  unfriended  woman  ;  let  her  bewail  her 
fate  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel,  like  Jephthah's 
daughter  in  ancient  days. 

"I  spake  unto  thee   in  thy  prosperity; 
Thou  saidst,   I  will  not  hearken. 
This  hath  been  thy  way  from  thy  youth, 
That  thou  hast  not  obeyed  My  voice. 
The  tempest  shall  be  the  shepherd  to  all  thy  shepherds." 

Kings  and  ,  nobles,  priests  and  prophets,  shall  be 
carried  off  by  the  Chaldean  invaders,  as  trees  and 
houses  are  swept  avv^ay  by  a  hurricane.  These  shep- 
herds who  had  spoiled  and  betra3^ed  their  flock  would 
themselves  be  as  silly  sheep  in  the  hands  of  robbers. 

"Thy  lovers  shall  go  into  captivity. 
Then,  verily,  shalt  thou  be  ashamed  and  confounded 
Because  of  all  thy  wickedness. 
O  thou  that  dwellest  in  Lebanon  ! 
O  thou  that  hast  made  thy  nest  in  the  cedar  !  " 

The  former  mention  of  Lebanon  reminded  Jeremiah 
of  Jehoiakim's   halls    of  cedar.     With  grim   irony  he 


'  The  Hebrew  verbs  are  in  2  s.  fem. ;  the  person  addressed  is  not 
named,  but  from  analogy  she  can  only  be  the  "Daughter  of  Zion," 
i.e.  Jerusalem  personified. 

'^  Identified  with  the  mountains  of  Moab. 


THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 


links  together  the  royal  magnificence  of  the  palace  and 
the  wild  abandonment  of  the  people's  lamentation. 

"  How  wilt  thou  groan  '  when  pangs  come  upon  thee, 
Anguish  as  of  a  woman  in  travail  1 " 

The  nation  is  involved  in  the  punishment  inflicted  upon 
her  rulers.  In  such  passages  the  prophets  largely 
identify  the  nation  with  the  governing  classes — not 
without  justification.  No  government,  whatever  the 
constitution  may  be,  can  ignore  a  strong  popular 
demand  for  righteous  policy,  at  home  and  abroad.  A 
special  responsibility  of  course  rests  on  those  who 
actually  wield  the  authority  of  the  state,  but  the  policy 
of  rulers  seldom  succeeds  in  effecting  much  either  for  ^ 
good  or  evil  without  some  sanction  of  pubhc  feeling.  ^ 
Our  revolution  which  replaced  the  Puritan  Protectorate 
by  the  restored  Monarchy  was  rendered  possible  by 
the  change  of  popular  sentiment.  Yet  even  under  the 
purest  democracy  men  imagine  that  they  divest  them- 
selves of  civic  responsibility  by  neglecting  their  civic 
.duties;  they  stand  aloof,  and  blame  officials  and  pro- 
fessional politicians  for  the  injustice  and  crime  wrought 
by  the  state.  National  guilt  seems  happily  disposed 
of  when  laid  on  the  shoulders  of  that  convenient 
abstraction  ^'  the  government  "  ;  but  neither  the  prophets 
nor  the  Providence  which  they  interpret  recognise  this  j 

convenient    theory  of  vicarious  atonement :    the    king  3 

sins,  but  the  prophet's  condemnation  is  uttered  against  j 

and  executed  upon  the  nation.  1 

Nevertheless  a  special  responsibility  rests  upon  the  ; 

ruler,  and  now  Jeremiah  turns  from  the  nation  to  its  < 

king.  I 

1 

i 


R.V.  margin,  with  LXX.,  Vulg.,  and  Syr. 


xxii.20-3o.]  JEHOIACHIN  89 

"As  I  live — Jehovah  hath  spoken  it — 
Though   Coniah    ben  Jehoiakim  king  of  Judah  were  a  signet 
ring  upon  My  right  hand " 

By  a  forcible  Hebrew  idiom  Jehovah^  as  it  were,  turns 
and  confronts  the  king  and  specially  addresses  him  : — 

"Yet  would  I  pluck  thee  thence." 

A  signet  ring  was  valuable  in]  itself,  and,  as  far  as  an 
inanimate  object  could  be,  was  an  **  alter  ego  "  of  the 
sovereign  ;  it  scarcely  ever  left  his  finger,  and  when 
it  did,  it  carried  with  it  the  authority  of  its  owner. 
A  signet  ring  could  not  be  lost  or  even  cast  away 
without  some  reflection  upon  the  majesty  of  the  king. 
Jehoiachin's  character  was  by  no  means  worthless ; 
he  had  courage,  energy,  and  patriotism.  The  heir  of 
David  and  Solomon,  the  patron  and  champion  of  the 
Temple,  dwelt,  as  it  were,  under  the  very  shadow  of 
the  Almighty.  Men  generally  believed  that  Jehovah's 
honour  was  engaged  to  defend  Jerusalem  and  the  house 
of  David.  He  Himself  would  be  discredited  by  the 
fall  of  the  elect  dynasty  and  the  captivity  of  the  chosen 
people.  Yet  everything  must  be  sacrificed — the  career 
of  a  gallant  young  prince,  the  ancient  association  of  the 
sacred  Name  with  David  and  Zion,  even  the  superstitious 
awe  with  which  the  heathen  regarded  the  God  of  the 
Exodus  and  of  the  deliverance  from  Sennacherib. 
Nothing  will  be  allowed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  the 
Divine  judgment.  And  yet  we  still  sometimes  dream 
that  the  working  out  of  the  Divine  righteousness  will 
be  postponed  in  the  interests  of  ecclesiastical  traditions 
and  in  deference  to  the  criticisms  of  ungodly  men  I 

"And  I  will  give  thee  into  the  hand  of  them  that  seek  thy  life, 
Into  the  hand  of  them  of  whom  thou  art  afraid, 
Into    the    hand    of   Nebuchadnezzar   king   of    Babylon    and    the 
Chaldeans. 


90  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

And  I  will  hurl  thee  and  the  mother  that  bare  thee  into  another 

land,  where  ye  were  not  born  : 
There  shall  ye  die. 

And  unto  the  land  whereunto  their  soul  longeth  to  return, 
Thither  they  shall  not  return." 

Again  the  sudden  change  in  the  person  addressed 
emphasises  the  scope  of  the  Divine  proclamation  ;  the 
doom  of  the  royal  house  is  not  only  announced  to  them, 
but  also  to  the  world  at  large.  The  mention  of  the 
Queen  Mother,  Nehushta,  reveals  what  we  should  in 
any  case  have  conjectured,  that  the  policy  of  the  young 
prince  was  largely  determined  by  his  mother.  Her 
importance  is  also  indicated  by  xiii.  i8,  usually  sup- 
posed to  be  addressed  to  Jehoiachin  and  Nehushta : — 

"  Say  unto  the  king  and  the  queen  mother, 
Leave  your  thrones  and  sit  in  the  dust, 
For  yeur  glorious  diadems  are  fallen." 

The  Queen  Mother  is  a  characteristic  figure  of  poty- 
gamous  Eastern  dynasties,  but  we  may  be  helped  to 
understand  what  Nehushta  was  to  Jehoiachin  if  we 
remember  the  influence  of  Eleanor  of  Poitou  over 
Richard  I.  and  John,  and  the  determined  struggle 
which  Margaret  of  Anjou  made  on  behalf  of  her  ill- 
starred  son. 

The  next  verse  of  our  prophecy  seems  to  be  a 
protest  against  the  severe  sentence  pronounced  in  the 
preceding  clauses  : — 

"Is   then    this    man    Coniah   a   despised    vessel,    only   fit   to    be 
broken  ? 
Is  he  a  tool,  that  no  one  wants  ?  " 

Thus  Jeremiah  imagines  the  citizens  and  warriors  of 
Jerusalem  crying  out  against  him,  for  his  sentence  of 
doom  against  their  darling  prince  and  captain.  The 
prophetic   utterance   seemed   to   them   monstrous  and 


xxii.  20-30.]  JEHOIACHIN 


incredible,  only  worthy  to  be  met  with  impatient  scorn. 
We  may  find  a  mediaeval  analogy  to  the  situation  at 
Jerusalem  in  the  relations  of  Clement  IV.  to  Conradin, 
the  last  heir  of  the  house  of  Hohenstaufen.  When 
this  youth  of  sixteen  was  in  the  full  career  of  victory, 
the  Pope  predicted  that  his  army  would  be  scattered 
like  smoke,  and  pointed  out  the  prince  and  his  allies  as 
victims  for  the  sacrifice.  When  Conradin  was  executed 
after  his  defeat  at  Tagliacozzo,  Christendom  was  filled 
with  abhorrence  at  the  suspicion  that  Clement  had 
countenanced  the  doing  to  death  of  the  hereditary 
enemy  of  the  Papal  See.  Jehoiachin's  friends  felt 
towards  Jeremiah  somewhat  as  these  thirteenth-century 
Ghibellines  towards  Clement. 

Moreover  the  charge  against  Clement  was  probably 
unfounded  ;  Milman  ^  says  of  him,  ''  He  was  doubtless 
moved  with  inner  remorse  at  the  cruelties  of  '  his 
champion  *  Charles  of  Anjou."  Jeremiah  too  would 
lament  the  doom  he  was  constrained  to  utter.  Never- 
theless he  could  not  permit  Judah  to  be  deluded  to  its 
ruin  by  empty  dreams  of  glory  : — 

"O  land,  land,  land. 
Hear  the  word  of  Jehovah." 

Isaiah  had  called  all  Nature,  heaven  and  earth  to  bear 
witness  against  Israel,  but  now  Jeremiah  is  appealing 
with  urgent  importunity  to  Judah.  ''  O  Chosen  Land 
of  Jehovah,  so  richly  blessed  by  His  favour,  so  sternly 
chastised  by  His  discipline.  Land  of  prophetic  Revela- 
tion, now  at  last,  after  so  many  warnings,  believe  the 
word  of  thy  God  and  submit  to  His  judgment.  Hasten 
not  thy  unhappy  fate  by  shallow  confidence  in  the 
genius  and  daring  of  Jehoiachin :  he  is  no  true  Messiah." 

'  Milman "s  Latin  Christianity,  vi.  3^2. 


92  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

"  For  saith  Jehovah, 
Write  this  man  childless, 

A  man  whose  life  shall  not  know  prosperity : 
For  none  of  his  seed  shall  prosper  ; 
None  shall  sit  upon  the  throne  of  David, 
Nor  rule  any  more  over  Judah." 

Thus,  by  Divine  decree,  the  descendants  of  Jehoiakim 
were  disinherited ;  Jehoiachin  was  to  be  recorded  in 
the  genealogies  of  Israel  as  having  no  heir.  He  might 
have  offspring,^  but  the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  David, 
would  not  come  of  his  line. 

Two  points  suggest  themselves  in  connection  with 
this  utterance  of  Jeremiah  ;  first  as  to  the  eircumstances 
under  which  it  was  uttered,  then  as  to  its  application 
to  Jehoiachin. 

A  moment's  reflection  will  show  that  this  prophecy 
implied  great  courage  and  presence  of  mind  on  the  part 
of  Jeremiah — his  enemies  might  even  have  spoken  of  his 
barefaced  audacity.  He  had  predicted  that  Jehoiakim's 
corpse  should  be  cast  forth  without  any  rites  of 
honourable  sepulture  ;  and  that  no  son  of  his  should 
sit  upon  the  throne.  Jehoiakim  had  been  buried  like 
other  kings,  he  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  Jehoiachin 
his  son  reigned  in  his  stead.  The  prophet  should  have 
felt  himself  utterly  discredited ;  and  yet  here  was 
Jeremiah  coming  forward  unabashed  with  new  prophecies 
against  the  king,  whose  very  existence  was  a  glaring 
disproof  of  his  prophetic  inspiration.  Thus  the  friends 
of  Jehoiachin.  They  would  affect  towards  Jeremiah's 
message  the  same  indifference  which  the  present 
generation  feels  for  the  expositors  of  Daniel  and  the 
Apocalypse,  who  confidently  announce  the  end  of  the 

^  I  Chron.  iii.  17  mentions  the  *'  sons  "  of  Jeconiah,  and  in  Matt.  i.  12 
Shealtiel  is  called  his  "son,"  but  in  Luke  iii.  27  Shealtiel  is  called  the 
son  of  Neri. 


xxii.  20-30.]  JEHOIACHIN  93 

world  for  1866,  and  in  1867  fix  a  new  date  with 
cheerful  and  undiminished  assurance.  But  these 
students  of  sacred  records  can  always  save  the 
authority  of  Scripture  by  acknowledging  the  fallibility 
of  their  calculations.  When  their  predictions  fail,  they 
confess  that  they  have  done  their  sum  wrong  and 
start  it  afresh.  But  Jeremiah's  utterances  were  not 
published  as  human  deductions  from  inspired  data; 
he  himself  claimed  to  be  inspired.  He  did  not  ask 
his  hearers  to  verify  and  acknowledge  the  accuracy  of 
his  arithmetic  or  his  logic,  but  to  submit  to  the  Divine 
message  from  his  lips.  And  yet  it  is  clear  that  he 
did  not  stake  the  authority  of  Jehovah  or  even  his 
own  prophetic  status  upon  the  accurate  and  detailed 
fulfilment  of  his  predictions.  Nor  does  he  suggest 
that,  in  announcing  a  doom  which  was  not  literally 
accomplished,  he  had  misunderstood  or  misinterpreted 
his  message.  The  details  which  both  Jeremiah  and 
those  who  edited  and  transmitted  his  words  knew  to 
be  unfulfilled  were  allowed  to  remain  in  the  record 
of  Divine  Revelation — not,  surely,  to  illustrate  the 
fallibility  of  prophets,  but  to  show  that  an  accurate 
forecast  of  details  is  not  of  the  essence  of  prophecy ; 
such  details  belong  to  its  form  and  not  to  its  substance. 
Ancient  Hebrew  prophecy  clothed  its  ideas  in  concrete 
images ;  its  messages  of  doom  were  made  definite  and 
intelligible  in  a  glowing  series  of  definite  pictures. 
The  prophets  were  realists  and  not  impressionists. 
But  they  were  also  spiritual  men,  concerned  with  the 
great  issues  of  history  and  rehgion.  Their  message 
had  to  do  with  these:  they  were  Kttle  interested  in 
minor  matters;  and  they  used  detailed  imagery  as  a 
mere  instrument  of  exposition.  Popular  scepticism 
exulted  when  subsequent  facts  did  not  exactly  corre- 


94  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

spond  to  Jeremiah's  images,  but  the  prophet  himself  was 
unconscious  of  either  failure  or  mistake.  Jehoiakim 
might  be  magnificently  buried,  but  his  name  was 
branded  with  eternal  dishonour ;  Jehoiachin  might 
reign  for  a  hundred  days,  but  the  doom  of  Judah  was 
not  averted,  and  the  house  of  David  ceased  for  ever 
to  rule  in  Jerusalem. 

Our  second  point  is  the  application  of  this  prophecy 
to  Jehoiachin.  How  far  did  the  king  deserve  his 
sentence  ?  Jeremiah  indeed  does  not  explicitly  blame 
Jehoiachin,  does  not  specify  his  sins  as  he  did  those 
of  his  royal  sire.  The  estimate  recorded  in  the  Book 
of  Kings  doubtless  expresses  the  judgment  of  Jeremiah, 
but  it  may  be  directed  not  so  much  against  the  young 
king  as  against  his  ministers.  Yet  the  king  cannot 
have  been  entirely  innocent  of  the  guilt  of  his  policy 
and  government.  In  chapter  xxiv.,  however,  Jeremiah 
speaks  of  the  captives  at  Babylon,  those  carried  av/ay 
with  Jehoiachin,  as  "good  figs";  but  we  scarcely 
suppose  he  meant  to  include  the  king  himself  in  this 
favourable  estimate,  otherwise  we  should  discern  some 
note  of  sympathy  in  the  personal  sentence  upon  him. 
We  are  left,  therefore,  to  conclude  that  Jeremiah's 
judgment  was  unfavourable;  although,  in  view  of  the 
prince's  youth  and  limited  opportunities,  his  guilt  must 
have  been  slight  compared  to  that  of  his  father. 

And,  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  the  manifest 
sympathy  and  even  admiration  of  Ezekiel.  The  two 
estimates  stand  side  by  side  in  the  sacred  record  to 
remind  us  that  God  neither  tolerates  man's  sins  be- 
cause there  is  a  better  side  to  his  nature,  nor  yet 
ignores  his  virtues  on  account  of  his  vices.  For  our- 
selves we  may  be  content  to  leave  the  last  word  on 
this  matter  with  Jeremiah.     When  he  declares  God's 


xxii.20-30.]  JEHOIACHIN  95 

sentence  on  Jehoiachin,  he  does  not  suggest  that  it 
was  undeserved,  but  he  refrains  from  any  explicit 
reproach.  Probably  if  he  had  known  how  entirely 
his  prediction  would  be  fulfilled,  if  he  had  foreseen 
the  seven-and-thirty  weary  years  which  the  young 
lion  was  to  spend  in  his  Babylonian  cage,  Jeremiah 
would  have  spoken  more  tenderly  and  pitifully  even 
of  the  son  of  Jehoiakim. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

BAD  SHEPHERDS  AND  FALSE  PROPHETS 


XXUl.,  XXIV. 


"Vvoe  unto  the  shepherds  that  destroy  and  scatter  the  sheep  of  My 
pasture  !  " — Jer.  xxiii.  i. 

"  Of  what  avail  is  straw  instead  of  grain  ?  ...  Is  not  My  word  like 
fire,  .  .  .  like  a  hammer  that  shattereth  the  rocks  ?  " — Jer.  xxiii.  28, 29. 

THE  captivity  of  Jehoiachin  and  the  deportation  of 
the  flower  of  the  people  marked  the  opening  of 
the  last  scene  in  the  tragedy  of  Judah  and  of  a  new 
period  in  the  ministry  of  Jeremiah.  These  events, 
together  with  the  accession  of  Zedekiah  as  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's nominee,  very  largely  altered  the  state  of 
affairs  in  Jerusalem.  And  yet  the  two  main  features 
of  the  situation  were  unchanged — the  people  and  the 
government  persistently  disregarded  Jeremiah's  exhorta- 
tions. ^'  Neither  Zedekiah,  nor  his  servants,  nor  the 
people  of  the  land,  did  hearken  unto  the  words  of 
Jehovah  which  He  spake  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah."^ 
They  would  not  obey  the  will  of  Jehovah  as  to  their 
life  and  worship,  and  they  would  not  submit  to 
Nebuchadnezzar.  *'  Zedekiah  .  .  .  did  evil  in  the 
sight  of  Jehovah,  according  to  all  that  Jehoiakim  had 
done ;  .  .  .  and  Zedekiah  rebelled  against  the  king  of 
Babylon."  2 

^  xxxvii.  2.  -  2  Kings  xxiv.  1 8-20. 

96 


xxiii.,  xxiv.]  BAD  SHEPHERDS  AND  FALSE  PROPHETS     97 

It  is  remarkable  that  though  Jeremiah  consistently 
urged  submission  to  Babylon,  the  various  arrange- 
ments made  by  Nebuchadnezzar  did  very  little  to 
improve  the  prophet's  position  or  increase  his  influence. 
The  Chaldean  king  m^ay  have  seemed  ungrateful  only 
because  he  v/as  ignorant  of  the  services  rendered  to 
him — Jeremiah  would  not  enter  into  direct  and  personal 
co-operation  with  the  enemy  of  his  country,  even 
with  him  whom  Jehovah  had  appointed  to  be  the 
scourge  of  His  disobedient  people — but  the  Chaldean 
pohcy  served  Nebuchadnezzar  as  Httle  as  it  profited 
Jeremiah.  Jehoiakim,  in  spite  of  his  forced  sub- 
mission, remained  the  able  and  determined  foe  of  his 
suzerain,  and  Zedekiah,  to  the  best  of  his  very  limited 
ability,  followed  his  predecessor's  example. 

Zedekiah  was  uncle  of  Jehoiachin,  half-brother  of 
Jehoiakim,  and  own  brother  to  Jehoahaz.  Possibly  the 
two  brothers  owed  their  bias  against  Jeremiah  and 
his  teaching  to  their  mother,  Josiah's  wife  Hamutal, 
the  daughter  of  another  Jeremiah,  the  Libnite.  Ezekiel 
thus  describes  the  appointment  of  the  new  king  :  '*  The 
king  of  Babylon  .  .  .  took  one  of  the  seed  royal,  and 
made  a  covenant  with  him  ;  he  also  put  him  under 
an  oath,  and  took  away  the  mighty  of  the  land  :  that 
the  kingdom  might  be  base,  that  it  might  not  lift  itself 
up,  but  that  by  keeping  of  his  covenant  it  might  stand."  ^ 
Apparently  Nebuchadnezzar  was  careful  to  choose  a 
feeble  prince  for  his  ^'  base  kingdom " ;  all  that  we 
read  of  Zedekiah  suggests  that  he  was  weak  and  in- 
capable.    Henceforth  the  sovereign  counted   for  little 

1  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  lO  makes  Zedekiah  the  brother  of  Jehoiachin, 
possibly  using  the  word  in  the  general  sense  of  "  relation."  Zedekiah's 
age  shows  that  he  cannot  have  been  the  son  of  Jehoiakim. 

^  Ezek,  xvii.  13,  14. 

7 


98  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

in  the  internal  struggles  of  the  tottering  state.  Josiah 
had  firmly  maintained  the  religious  policy  of  Jeremiah, 
and  Jehoiakim,  as  firmly,  the  opposite  policy;  but 
Zedekiah  had  neither  the  strength  nor  the  firmness 
to  enforce  a  consistent  policy  and  to  make  one  party 
permanently  dominant.  Jeremiah  and  his  enemies  were 
left  to  fight  it  out  amongst  themselves,  so  that  now 
their  antagonism  grew  more  bitter  and  pronounced  than 
during  any  other  reign. 

But  whatever  advantage  the  prophet  might  derive 
from  the  weakness  of  the  sovereign  was  more  than 
counterbalanced  by  the  recent  deportation.  In  select- 
ing the  captives  Nebuchadnezzar  had  sought  merely 
to  weaken  Judah  by  carrying  away  every  one  who 
would  have  been  an  element  of  strength  to  the  ^*  base 
kingdom."  Perhaps  he  rightly  believed  that  neither 
the  prudence  of  the  wise  nor  the  honour  of  the  virtuous 
would  overcome  their  patriotic  hatred  of  subjection ; 
weakness  alone  would  guarantee  the  obedience  of 
Judah.  He  forgot  that  even  weakness  is  apt  to  be 
foolhardy — when  there  is  no  immediate  prospect  of 
penalty. 

One  result  of  his  policy  was  that  the  enemies  and 
friends  of  Jeremiah  were  carried  away  indiscriminately ; 
there  was  no  attempt  to  leave  behind  those  who  might 
have  counselled  submission  to  Babylon  as  the  accept- 
ance of  a  Divine  judgment,  and  thus  have  helped  to 
keep  Judah  loyal  to  its  foreign  master.  On  the 
contrary  Jeremiah's  disciples  were  chiefly  thoughtful 
and  honourable  men,  and  Nebuchadnezzar's  policy  in 
taking  away  "  the  mighty  of  the  land  "  bereft  the  pro- 
phet of  many  friends  and  supporters,  amongst  them 
his  disciple  Ezekiel  and  doubtless  a  large  class  of 
whom  Daniel  and  his  three  friends  might  be  taken  as 


xxiii.,  xxiv.]  BAD  SHEPHERDS  AND  FALSE  PROPHETS     99 

types.  When  Jeremiah  characterises  the  captives  as 
^'good  figs"  and  those  left  behind  as  ''bad  figs,"  ^  and 
the  judgment  is  confirmed  and  amphfied  by  Ezekiel,^ 
we  may  be  sure  that  most  of  the  prophet's  adherents 
were  in  exile. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  compare  the 
changes  in  the  religious  policy  of  the  Jewish  govern- 
ment to  the  alternations  of  Protestant  and  Romanist 
sovereigns  among  the  Tudors;  but  no  Tudor  was  as 
feeble  as  Zedekiah.  He  may  rather  be  compared  to 
Charles  IX.  of  France,  helpless  between  the  Huguenots 
and  the  League.  Only  the  Jewish  factions  were  less 
numerous,  less  evenly  balanced ;  and  by  the  speedy 
advance  of  Nebuchadnezzar  civil  dissensions  were 
merged  in  national  ruin. 

The  opening  years  of  the  new  reign  passed  in 
nominal  allegiance  to  Babylon.  Jeremiah's  influence 
would  be  used  to  induce  the  vassal  king  to  observe  the 
covenant  he  had  entered  into  and  to  be  faithful  to  his 
oath  to  Nebuchadnezzar.  On  the  other  hand  a  crowd 
of  ''  patriotic  "  prophets  urged  Zedekiah  to  set  up  once 
more  the  standard  of  national  independence,  to  ''  come 
to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty."  Let  us 
then  briefly  consider  Jeremiah's  polemic  against  the 
princes,  prophets,  and  priests  of  his  people.  While 
Ezekiel  in  a  celebrated  chapter  ^  denounces  the  idolatry 
of  the  princes,  priests,  and  women  of  Judah,  their 
worship  of  creeping  things  and  abominable  beasts, 
their  weeping  for  Tammuz,  their  adoration  of  the  sun, 
Jeremiah  is  chiefly  concerned  with  the  perverse  policy 
of  the  government  and  the  support  it  receives  from 
priests  and  prophets,  who  profess  to  speak  in  the  name 


THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


of  Jehovah.  Jeremiah  does  not  utter  against  Zedekiah 
any  formal  judgment  hke  those  on  his  three  prede- 
cessors. Perhaps  the  prophet  did  not  regard  this 
impotent  sovereign  as  the  responsible  representative 
of  the  state,  and  when  the  long-expected  catastrophe 
at  last  befell  the  doomed  people,  neither  Zedekiah  nor 
his  doings  distracted  men's  attention  from  their  own 
personal  sufferings  and  patriotic  regrets.  At  the  point 
where  a  paragraph  on  Zedekiah  would  naturally  have 
followed  that  on  Jehoiachin,  we  have  by  way  of 
summary  and  conclusion  to  the  previous  sections  a 
brief  denunciation  of  the  shepherds  of  Israel. 

"  Woe  unto  the  shepherds  that  destroy  and  scatter 
the  sheep  of  My  pasture !  ...  Ye  have  scattered  My 
flock,  and  driven  them  away,  and  have  not  cared  for 
them ;  behold,  I  will  visit  upon  you  the  evil  of  your 
doings." 

These  "  shepherds"  are  primarily  the  kings,  Jehoahaz, 
Jehoiakim,  and  Jehoiachin,  who  have  been  condemned 
by  name  in  the  previous  chapter,  together  with  the 
unhappy  Zedekiah,  who  is  too  insignificant  to  be 
mentioned.  But  the  term  shepherds  will  also  include 
the  ruling  and  influential  classes  of  which  the  king  was 
the  leading  representative. 

The  image  is  a  familiar  one  in  the  Old  Testament 
and  is  found  in  the  oldest  literature  of  Israel,^  but 
the  denunciation  of  the  rulers  of  Judah  as  unfaithful 
shepherds  is  characteristic  of  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  and 
one  of  the  prophecies  appended  to  the  Book  of 
Zechariah.^  Ezekiel  xxxiv.  expands  this  figure  and 
enforces  its  lessons  : — 


*  Gen.  xlix.  24,  J.  from  older  source.     Micah  v.  5. 
'  ix. — xi.,  xiii.  7-9. 


xxiii.,  xxiv.]  BAD  SHEPHERDS  AND  FALSE  PROPHETS    loi 

"  Woe  unto  the  shepherds  of  Israel  that  do  feed  themselves ! 
Should  not  the  shepherds  feed  the  sheep  ?     Ye  eat  the  fat,   and 

ye  clothe  you  with  the  wool. 
Ye  kill  the  failings ;  but  ye  feed  not  the  sheep. 
The  diseased  have  ye  not  strengthened, 
Neither  have  ye  healed  the  sick, 
Neither  have  ye  bound  up  the  bruised, 

Neither  have  ye  brought  back  again  that  which  was  driven  awaj', 
Neither  have  ye  sought  for  that  which  was  lost, 
But  your  rule  over  them  has  been  harsh  and  violent. 
And  for  want  of  a  shepherd,  they  were  scattered, 
And  became  food  for  every  beast  of  the  field."  ' 

So  in  Zechariah  ix.,  etc.,  Jehovah's  anger  is  kindled 
against  the  shepherds,  because  they  do  not  pity  His 
flock.^  Elsewhere  ^  Jeremiah  speaks  of  the  kings  of 
all  nations  as  shepherds,  and  pronounces  against  them 
also  a  like  doom.  All  these  passages  illustrate  the 
concern  of  the  prophets  for  good  government.  They 
were  neither  Pharisees  nor  formalists  ;  their  religious 
ideals  were  broad  and  wholesome.  Doubtless  the  elect 
remnant  will  endure  through  all  conditions  of  society  ; 
but  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  not  meant  to  be  a  pure 
Church  in  a  rotten  state.  This  present  evil  world  is 
no  manure  heap  to  fatten  the  growth  of  holiness :  it 
is  rather  a  mass  for  the  saints  to  leaven. 

Both  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  turn  from  the  unfaithful 
shepherds  whose  '^  hungry  sheep  look  up  and  are  not 
fed  "  to  the  true  King  of  Israel,  the  ''  Shepherd  of  Israel 
that  led  Joseph  like  a  flock,  and  dwelt  between  the 
Cherubim."  In  the  days  of  the  Restoration  He  will 
raise  up  faithful  shepherds,  and  over  them  a  righteous 
Branch,  the  real  Jehovah  Zidqenu,  instead  of  the  sapless 
twig  who  disgraced  the  name  **Zedekiah."     Similarly 

^  Ezek.  xxxiv.  2-5.  ^  Zech.  x.  3,  xi.  5. 

3  XXV.  34-38. 


THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 


J 


Ezekiel  promises  that  God  will  set  up  one  shepherd 
over  His  people,  "  even  My  servant  David."  The 
pastoral  care  of  Jehovah  for  His  people  is  most  tenderly 
and  beautifully  set  forth  in  the  twenty-third  Psalm. 
Our  Lord,  the  root  and  the  offspring  of  David,  claims 
to  be  the  fulfilment  of  ancient  prophecy  when  He  calls 
Himself  ''  the  Good  Shepherd."  The  words  of  Christ 
and  of  the  Psalmist  receive  new  force  and  fuller  meaning 
when  we  contrast  their  pictures  of  the  true  Shepherd 
with  the  portraits  of  the  Jewish  kings  drawn  by  the 
prophets.  Moreover  the  history  of  this  metaphor  warns 
us  against  ignoring  the  organic  life  of  the  Christian 
society,  the  Church,  in  our  concern  for  the  spiritual  life 
of  the  individual.  As  Sir  Thomas  More  said,  in 
applying  this  figure  to  Henry  VIII.,  "Of  the  multitude 
of  sheep  com^eth  the  nam.e  of  a  shepherd."  ^  A  shepherd 
implies  not  merely  a  sheep,  but  a  flock ;  His  relation 
to  each  member  is  tender  and  personal,  but  He  bestows 
blessings  and  requires  service  in  fellov/ship  with  the 
Family  of  God. 

By  a  natural  sequence  the  denunciation  of  the 
unfaithful  shepherds  is  followed  by  a  similar  utterance 
''concerning  the  prophets."  It  is  true  that  the 
prophets  are  not  spoken  of  as  shepherds  ;  and  Milton's 
use  of  the  figure  in  Lycidas  suggests  the  New  Testa- 
ment rather  than  the  Old.  Yet  the  prophets  had  a 
large  share  in  guiding  the  destinies  of  Israel  in  politics 
as  well  as  in  religion,  and  having  passed  sentence  on 
the  shepherds — the  kings  and  princes — Jeremiah  turns 
to  the  ecclesiastics,  chietly,  as  the  heading  implies,  to 
the  prophets.  The  priests  indeed  do  not  escape,  but 
Jeremiah  seems  to  feel  that  they  are  adequately  dealt 

^  Frpude,  i.  205. 


xxiii.,  xxiv.]  BAD  SHEPHERDS  AND  FALSE  PROPHETS    103 

with  in  two  or  three  casual  references.  We  use  the 
term  "ecclesiastics"  advisedly /the  prophets  were  now 
a  large  professional  class,  more  important  and  even 
more  clerical  than  the  priests.  The  prophets  and  priests 
together  were  the  clergy  of  Israel.  They  claimed  to 
be  devoted  servants  of  Jehovah,  and  for  the  most  part 
the  claim  was  made  in  all  sincerity ;  but  they  mis- 
understood His  character,  and  mistook  for  Divine 
inspiration  the  suggestions  of  their  own  prejudice  and 
self-will. 

V  Jeremiah's  indictment  against  them  has  various 
counts.  He  accuses  them  of  speaking  without 
authority,  and  also  of  time-serving,  plagiarism,  and 
cant. 

Y  First,  then,  as  to  their  unauthorised  utterances : 
Jeremiah  finds  them  guilty  of  an  unholy  licence  in 
prophesying,  a  distorted  caricature  of  that  ''  liberty 
of  prophesying "  which  is  the  prerogative  of  God's 
accredited  ambassadors. 

"  Hearken  not   unto   the   words   of  the   prophets   that    prophesy 
unto  you. 
They  make  fools  of  you  : 

The  visions  which  they  declare  are  from  their  own  hearts, 
And  not  from  the  mouth  of  Jehovah. 

Who  hath  stood  in  the  council  of  Jehovah, 

To  perceive  and  hear  His  word  ? 

Who  hath  marked   His  word  ani  heard  it  ? 

I  sent  not  the  prophets — yet   they  ran ; 

I  spake  not  unto  them — yet  they   prophesied." 

The  evils  which  Jeremiah  describes  are  such  as  will 
always  be  found  in  any  large  professional  class.  To 
use  modern  terms — in  the  Church,  as  in  every  pro- 
fession, there  will  be  men  who  are  not  qualified  for 
the  vocation  which  they  follow.      They  are  indeed  not 


THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


called  to  their  vocation ;  they  "  follow,"  but  do  not 
overtake  it.  They  are  not  sent  of  God,  yet  they  run ; 
they  have  no  Divine  message,  yet  they  preach.  They 
have  never  stood  in  the  council  of  Jehovah ;  they 
might  perhaps  have  gathered  up  scraps  of  the  King's 
purposes  from  His  true  councillors ;  but  when  they 
had  opportunity  they  neither  ^^  marked  nor  heard  " ; 
and  yet  they  discourse  concerning  heavenly  things  with 
much  importance  and  assurance.  But  their  inspiration, 
at  its  best,  has  no  deeper  or  richer  source  than  their 
own  shallow  selves ;  their  visions  are  the  mere  product 
of  their  own  imaginations.  Strangers  to  the  true 
fellowship,  their  spirit  is  not  ''  a  well  of  water  spring- 
ing up  unto  eternal  life,"  but  a  stagnant  pool.  And, 
unless  the  judgment  and  merc}^  of  God  intervene,  that 
pool  will  in  the  end  be  fed  from  a  fountain  whose  bitter 
waters  are  earthly,  sensual,  devilish. 

We  are  always  reluctant  to  speak  of  ancient  pro- 
phecy or  modern  preaching  as  a  "profession."  We 
may  gladly  dispense  with  the  word,  if  we  do  not  there- 
by ignore  the  truth  which  it  inaccurately  expresses. 
Men  lived  by  prophecy,  as,  with  Apostolic  sanction, 
men  live  by  "  the  gospel."  They  were  expected,  as 
ministers  are  now,  though  in  a  less  degree,  to  justify 
their  claims  to  an  income  and  an  official  status,  by 
discharging  religious  functions  so  as  to  secure  the 
approval  of  the  people  or  the  authorities.  Then,  as 
now,  the  prophet's  reputation,  influence,  and  social 
standing,  probably  even  his  income,  depended  upon 
the  amount  of  visible  success  that  he  could  achieve. 

In  view  of  such  facts,  it  is  futile  to  ask  men  of  the 
world  not  to  speak  of  the  clerical  life  as  a  profession. 
They  discern  no  ethical  difference  between  a  curate's 
dreams  of  a  bishopric  and  the  aspirations  of  a  junior 


xxiii.,  xxiv.]  BAD  SHEPHERDS  AND  FALSE  PROPHETS    105 

barrister  to  the  woolsack.  Probably  a  refusal  to  re- 
cognise the  element  common  to  the  ministry  with  law, 
medicine,  and  other  professions,  injures  both  the 
Church  and  its  sen^ants.  One  peculiar  difficulty  and 
most  insidious  temptation  of  the  Christian  ministry 
consists  in  its  mingled  resemblances  to  and  differences 
from  the  other  professions.  The  minister  has  to  work 
under  similar  worldly  conditions,  and  yet  to  control 
those  conditions  by  the  indwelling  power  of  the  Spirit. 
He  has  to  '^  run,"  it  may  be  twice  or  even  three  times 
a  week,  whether  he  be  sent  or  no  :  how  can  he  always 
preach  only  that  which  God  has  taught  him  ?  He  is 
consciously  dependent  upon  the  exercise  of  his  memory, 
his  intellect,  his  fancy :  how  can  he  avoid  speaking 
**  the  visions  of  his  own  heart "  ?  The  Church  can 
never  allow  its  ministers  to  regard  themselves  as  mere 
professional  teachers  and  lecturers,  and  yet  if  they 
claim  to  be  more,  must  they  not  often  fall  under 
Jeremiah's  condemnation  ? 

It  is  one  of  those  practical  dilemmas  which  delight 
casuists  and  distress  honest  and  earnest  servants  of 
God.  In  the  early  Christian  centuries  similar  difficul- 
ties peopled  the  Egyptian  and  Syrian  deserts  with 
ascetics,  who  had  given  up  the  world  as  a  hopeless 
riddle.  A  full  discussion  of  the  problem  would  lead 
us  too  far  away  from  the  exposition  of  Jeremiah,  and 
we  will  only  venture  to  make  two  suggestions. 

The  necessity,  which  most  ministers  are  under,  of 
'^  living  by  the  gospel,"  may  promote  their  own  spiritual 
life  and  add  to  their  usefulness.  It  corrects  and  reduces 
spiritual  pride,  and  helps  them  to  understand  and 
sympathise  with  their  lay  brethren,  most  of  whom  are 
stibject  to  a  similar  trial. 
V  Secondly,  as  a  minister  feels  the  ceaseless  pressure 


io6  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

of  Strong  temptation  to  speak  from  and  live  for  himself 
— his  lower,  egotistic  self — he  will  be  correspondingly 
driven  to  a  more  entire  and  persistent  surrender  to 
God.  The  infinite  fulness  and  variety  of  Revelation 
is  expressed  by  the  manifold  gifts  and  experience  of 
the  prophets.  If  only  the  prophet  be  surrendered  to 
the  Spirit,  then  what  is  most  characteristic  of  himself 
may  become  the  most  forcible  expression  of  his  message. 
His  constant  prayer  will  be  that  he  may  have  the 
child's  heart  and  may  never  resist  the  Holy  Ghost, 
that  no. personal  interest  or  prejudice,  no  bias  of  train- 
ing or  tradition  or  current  opinion,  may  dull  his  hearing 
when  he  stands  in  the  council  of  the  Lord,  or  betray 
him  into  uttering  for  Christ's  gospel  the  suggestions 
of  his  own  self-will  or  the  mere  watchwords  of  his 
ecclesiastical  faction. 

v  But  to  return  to  the  ecclesiastics  who  had  stirred 
Jeremiah's  wrath.  The  professional  prophets  naturally 
adapted  their  words  to  the  itching  ears  of  their  clients. 
They  were  not  only  officious,  but  also  time-serving. 
Had  they  been  true  prophets,  they  would  have  dealt 
faithfully  with  Judah ;  they  would  have  sought  to 
convince  the  people  of  sin,  and  to  lead  them  to  repent- 
ance; they  would  thus  have  given  them  yet  another 
opportunity  of  salvation. 

"  If  they  had  stood  in  My  council, 
They  would  have  caused  My  people  to  hear  My  words; 
They  would  have  turned  them  from  their  evil  way, 
And  from  the  evil  of  their  doings." 

But  now : — 

"They  walk  in  lies  and  strengthen  the  hands  of  evildoers, 
That  no  one  may  turn  away  from  his  sin. 


xxiii.,  xxiv.]  BAD  SHEPHERDS  AND  FALSE  PROPHETS    107 

They    say   continually   unto  them    that     despise   the    word    of 

Jehovah/ 
Ye  shall  have  peace  ; 

And  unto  every  one  that   walketh  in   the    stubbornness  of  his 
heart  they  say, 
,-       No  evil  shall  come  upon  you." 

'  Unfortunately,  when  prophecy  becomes  professional  in 
the  lowest  sense  of  the  word,  it  is  governed  by  com- 
mercial principles.  A  sufficiently  imperious  demand 
calls  forth  an  abundant  supply.  A  sovereign  can 
^'  tune  the  pulpits " ;  and  a  ruling  race  can  obtain 
from  its  clergy  formal  ecclesiastical  sanction  for  such 
^'  domestic  institutions  "  as  slavery.  When  evildoers 
grow  numerous  and  powerful,  there  will  always  be 
prophets  to  strengthen  their  hands  and  encourage  them 
not  to  turn  away  from  their  sin.  But  to  give  the  lie 
to  these  false  prophets  God  sends  Jeremiahs,  who  are 
often  branded  as  heretics  and  schismatics,  turbulent 
fellows  who  turn  the  world  upside-down. 

The  self-important,  self-seeking  spirit  leads  further 
to  the  sin  of  plagiarism  : — 

"Therefore  I  am  against  the  prophets,  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah, 
Who  steal  My  word  from  one  another." 

The  sin  of  plagiarism  is  impossible  to  the  true 
prophet,  partly  because  there  are  no  rights  of  private 
property  in  the  word  of  Jehovah.  The  Old  Testament 
writers  make  free  use  of  the  works  of  their  predecessors. 
For  instance,  Isaiah  ii.  2-4  is  almost  identical  with 
Micah  iv.  1-3  ;  yet  neither  author  acknowledges  his 
indebtedness  to   the    other    or  to   any  third    prophet.^ 

'  LXX.     See  R.V.  margin. 

"^  Possibly,  however,  the  insertion  of  this  passage  in  one  of  the 
books  may  have  been  the  work  of  an  editor,  and  we  cannot  be  sure 
that,  in  Jeremiah's  time,  collections  entitled  Isaiah  and  Micah  both 
included  this  section. 


io8  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Uriah  ben  Shemaiah  prophesied  according  to  all  the 
words  of  Jeremiah/  who  himself  owes  much  to  Hosea, 
whom  he  never  mentions.  Yet  he  was  not  conscious 
of  stealing  from  his  predecessor,  and  he  would  have 
brought  no  such  charge  against  Isaiah  or  Micah  or 
Uriah.  In  the  New  Testament  2  Peter  and  Jude  have 
so  much  in  common  that  one  must  have  used  the  other 
without  acknowledgment.  Yet  the  Church  has  not, 
on  that  ground,  excluded  either  Epistle  from  the  Canon. 
In  the  goodly  fellowship  of  the  prophets  and  the  glorious 
company  of  the  apostles  no  man  says  that  the  things 
which  he  utters  are  his  own.  But  the  mere  hireling 
has  no  part  in  the  spiritual  communism  wherein  each 
may  possess  all  things  because  he  claims  nothing. 
When  a  prophet  ceases  to  be  the  messenger  of  God, 
and  sinks  into  the  mercenary  purveyor  of  his  own  clever 
sayings  and  brilliant  fancies,  then  he  is  tempted  to 
become  a  clerical  Autolycus,  "  a  snapper-up  of  uncon- 
sidered trifles."  Modern  ideas  furnish  a  curious  parallel 
to  Jeremiah's  indifference  to  the  borrowings  of  the  true 
prophet,  and  his  scorn  of  the  literary  pilferings  of  the 
false.  We  hear  only  too  often  of  stolen  sermons,  but 
no  one  complains  of  plagiarism  in  prayers.  Doubtless 
among  these  false  prophets  charges  of  plagiarism  were 
bandied  to  and  fro  with  much  personal  acrimony.  But 
it  is  interesting  to  notice  that  Jeremiah  is  not  denouncing 
an  injury  done  to  himself;  he  does  not  accuse  them 
of  thieving  from  him,  but  from  one  another.  Probably 
assurance  and  lust  of  praise  and  power  would  have 
overcome  any  awe  they  felt  for  Jeremiah.  He  was 
only  free  from  their  depredations,  because — from  their 
point   of  view — his   words   were   not   worth  stealing. 

'  xxvi.  20. 


xxiii.,  xxiv.]  BAD  SHEPHERDS  AND  FALSE  PROPHETS    109 

There  was  nothing  to  be  gained  by  repeating  his  stern 
denunciations,  and  even  his  promises  were  not  exactly 
suited  to  the  popular  taste. 

/  These  prophets  were  prepared  to  cater  for  the 
average  religious  appetite  in  the  most  approved  fashion 
— in  other  words,  they  were  masters  of  cant.  Their 
office  had  been  consecrated  by  the  work  of  true  men 
of  God  Hke  Elijah  and  Isaiah.  They  themselves 
claimed  to  stand  in  the  genuine  prophetic  succession, 
and  to  inherit  the  reverence  felt  for  their  great  pre- 
decessors, quoting  their  inspired  utterances  and 
adopting  their  weighty  phrases.  As  Jeremiah's  con- 
temporaries listened  to  one  of  their  favourite  orators, 
they  were  soothed  by  his  assurances  of  Divine  favour 
and  protection,  and  their  confidence  in  the  speaker 
was  confirmed  by  the  frequent  sound  of  familiar 
formulae  in  his  unctuous  sentences.  These  had  the 
true  ring;  they  were  redolent  of  sound  doctrine,  of 
what  popular  tradition  regarded  as  orthodox. 

The  solemn  attestation  NE'UM  YAHWE,  ^'It  is 
the  utterance  of  Jehovah,"  is  continually  appended  to 
prophecies,  almost  as  if  it  were  the  sign-manual  of  the 
Almighty.  Isaiah  and  other  prophets  frequently  use 
the  term  MASSA  (A.V.,  R.V.,  "burden")  as  a  title, 
especially  for  prophecies  concerning  neighbouring  na- 
tions. The  ancient  records  loved  to  tell  how  Jehovah 
revealed  Himself  to  the  patriarchs  in  dreams.  Jeremiah's 
rivals  included  dreams  in  their  clerical  apparatus  : — 

"Behold,  I  am  against  them  that  prophesy  lying  dreams— 
Nehim  Yahwe — 
And  tell  them,  and  lead  astray  My  people 
By  their  lies  and  their  rodomontade ; 
It  was  not  I  who  sent  or  commanded  them, 
Neither  shall  they  profit  this  people  at  all, 
Ne'uni  Yahwe ' 


THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


These  prophets  ''thought  to  cause  the  Lord's  people 
to  forget  His  name,  as  their  fathers  forgot  His 
name  for  Baal,  by  their  dreams  which  they  told  one 
another." 

Moreover  they  could  glibly  repeat  the  sacred  phrases 
as  part  of  their  professional  jargon  : — 

"  Behold,  I  am  against  the  prophets, 
It  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah  {Ne'unt  Ya/twe), 
That  use  their  tongues 
To  utter  utterances  {Wayyin'amu  Ne'um)." 

"To  utter  utterances" — the  prophets  uttered  them, 
not  Jehovah.  These  sham  oracles  were  due  to  no 
Diviner  source  than  the  imagination  of  foolish  hearts. 
But  for  Jeremiah's  grim  earnestness,  the  last  clause 
would  be  almost  blasphemous.  It  is  virtually  a  cari- 
cature of  the  most  solemn  formula  of  ancient  Hebrew 
religion.  But  this  was  really  degraded  when  it  was 
used  to  obtain  credence  for  the  lies  which  men  pro- 
phesied out  of  the  deceit  of  their  own  heart.  Jeremiah's 
seeming  irreverence  was  the  most  forcible  way  of 
bringing  this  home  to  his  hearers.  There  are  pro- 
fanations of  the  most  sacred  things  which  can  scarcely 
be  spoken  of  without  an  apparent  breach  of  the  Third 
Commandment.  The  most  awful  taking  in  vain  of 
the  name  of  the  Lord  God  is  not  heard  among  the 
publicans  and  sinners,  but  in  pulpits  and  on  the 
platforms  of  religious  meetings. 

But  these  prophets  and  their  clients  had  a  special 
fondness  for  the  phrase  "The  burden  of  Jehovah," 
and  their  unctuous  use  of  it  most  especially  provoked 
Jeremiah's  indignation : — 

"When  this  people,  priest,  or  prophet  shall  ask  thee, 
What  is  the  burden  of  Jehovah  ? 


xxiii.,  xxiv.]  BAD  SHEPHERDS  AND  FALSE  PROPHETS    1 1 1 

Then  say  unto  them,  Ye  are  the  burden.^ 

But  I  will  cast  you  off,  Ne'um  Yahwe. 

If  priest   or   prophet  or  people  shall  say,  The  burden  of 

Jehovah, 
I  will  punish  that  man  and  his  house. 
And  ye  shall  say  to  one  another, 
What  hath  Jehovah  answered  ?  and,  What  hath  Jehovah 

spoken  ? 
And   ye   shall  no   more  make   mention   of  the    burden   of 

Jehovah : 
For   (if  ye   do)    men's   words   shall   become   a    burden   to 

themselves. 

Thus  shall  ye  inquire  of  a  prophet, 

What  hath  Jehovah  answered  thee? 

What  hath  Jehovah  spoken  unto  thee  ? 

But  if  ye  say.  The  burden  of  Jfehovah, 

Thus  saith  Jehovah ;  Because  ye  say  this  word.  The  burden 

of  Jehovah, 
When  I  have  sent  unto  you  the  command, 
Ye  shall  not  say,  The  burden  of  Jehovah, 
Therefore  I  will  assuredly  take  you  up, 
And  will  cast  away  from  before  Me  both  you  and  the  city 

which  I  gave  to  you  and  to  your  fathers. 
I  will  bring  upon  you  everlasting  reproach 
And  everlasting  shame,  that  shall  not  be  forgotten." 

Jeremiah's  insistence  and  vehemence  speak  for  them- 
selves. Their  moral  is  obvious,  though  for  the  most 
part  unheeded.  The  most  solemn  formulae,  hallowed 
by  ancient  and  sacred  associations,  used  by  inspired 
teachers  as  the  vehicle  of  revealed  truths,  may  be 
debased  till  they  become  the  very  legend  of  Antichrist, 
blazoned  on  the  Vexilla  Regis  Inferni.  They  are  like 
a  motto  of  one  of  Charles's  Paladins  flaunted  by  his 
unworthy  descendants  to  give  distinction  to  cruelty 
and  vice.     The  Church's  line  of  march  is  strewn  with 

*  So  LXX.  and  modern  editors :  see  Giesebrecht,  in  loco.  R.V. 
"What  burden!" 


THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


such  dishonoured  reHcs  of  her  noblest  champions. 
Even  our  Lord's  own  words  have  not  escaped.  There 
is  a  fashion  of  discoursing  upon  ''  the  gospel "  which 
almost  tempts  reverent  Christians  to  wish  they  might 
never  hear  that  word  again.  Neither  is  this  debasing 
of  the  moral  currency  confined  to  religious  phrases ; 
almost  every  political  and  social  watchword  has  been 
similarly  abused.  One  of  the  vilest  tyrannies  the 
world  has  ever  seen — the  Reign  of  Terror — claimed 
to  be  an  incarnation  of  ''Liberty,  Equality,  and 
Fraternity." 

Yet  the  Bible,  with  that  marvellous  catholicity  which 
lifts  it  so  high  above  the  level  of  all  other  religious 
literature,  not  only  records  Jeremiah's  prohibition  to 
use  the  term  '*  Burden,"  but  also  tells  us  that  centuries 
later  Malachi  could  still  speak  of  **  the  burden  of  the 
word  of  Jehovah."  A  great  phrase  that  has  been 
discredited  by  misuse  may  yet  recover  itself;  the 
tarnished  and  dishonoured  sword  of  faith  may  be 
baptised  and  burnished  anew,  and  flame  in  the  forefront 
of  the  holy  war. 

Jeremiah  does  not  stand  alone  in  his  unfavourable 
estimate  of  the  professional  prophets  of  Judah ;  a 
similar  depreciation  seems  to  be  implied  by  the  words 
of  Amos :  "  I  am  neither  a  prophet  nor  of  the  sons 
of  the  prophets."^  One  of  the  unknown  authors 
whose  writings  have  been  included  in  the  Book  of 
Zechariah  takes  up  the  teaching  of  Amos  and  Jeremiah 
and  carries  it  a  stage  further  : — 

"In  that  day  (it   is  the  utterance   of   Jehovah   Sabaoth)    I   will 
cut  off  the  names  of  the  idols  from  the  land, 
They  shall  not  be  remembered  any  more  ; 


vii.  14;  but  of.  R.V.,  "I  was,"  etc. 


xxiii.,  xxiv.]  BAD  SHEPHERDS  AND  FALSE  PROPHETS    113 

Also  the  prophets  and  the  spirit  of  uncleanness 

Will  I  expel  from  the  land. 

When  any  shall  yet  prophesy, 

His  father  and  mother  that  begat  him  shall  say  unto  him, 

Thou    shalt    not   live,    for   thou    speakest    lies    in    the   name   of 

Jehovah  : 
And    his   father  and   mother   that    begat    him    shall    thrust    him 

through  when  he  prophesieth. 
In    that    day    every    prophet    when    he    prophesieth    shall    be 

ashamed  of  his  vision ; 
Neither  shall  any  wear  a  hairy  mantle  to  deceive : 
He  shall  say,  I  am  no  prophet ; 
I  am  a  tiller  of  the  ground, 
I  was  sold  for  a  slave  in  my  youth."  ' 

No  man  with  any  self-respect  would  allow  his  fellows 
to  dub  him  prophet ;  slave  was  a  less  humiliating  name. 
No  famil}^  would  endure  the  disgrace  of  having  a 
member  who  belonged  to  this  despised  caste  ;  parents 
would  rather  put  their  son  to  death  than  see  him  a 
prophet.  To  such  extremities  may  the  spirit  of  time- 
serving and  cant  reduce  a  national  clergy.  We  are 
reminded  of  Latimer's  words  in  his  famous  sermon  to 
Convocation  in  1536:  ^' All  good  men  in  all  places 
accuse  your  avarice,  your  exactions,  your  tyranny.  I 
commanded  you  that  ye  should  feed  my  sheep,  and  3^e 
earnestly  feed  yourselves  from  day  to  day,  wallowing 
in  delights  and  idleness.  I  commanded  you  to  teach 
my  law  ;  you  teach  your  own  traditions,  and  seek  your 
own  glory."  ^ 

Over  against  their  fluent  and  unctuous  cant  Jeremiah 
sets  the  terrible  reality  of  his  Divine  message.  Com- 
pared to  this,  their  sayings  are  like  chaff  to  the  wheat ; 
nay,  this  is  too  tame  a  figure — Jehovah's  word  is  like 

'  Zech.   xiii.  2-5.     Post-exilic,  according  to  most  critics  (Driver's 
Introduction,  in  loco). 
•^  Froude,  ii.  474. 

8 


114  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

fire,  like  a  hammer  that  shatters  rocks.  He  says  of 
himself: — 

"My  heart  within  me  is  broken;  all  my  bones  shake: 
I  am  like  a  drunken  man,  like  a   man  whom  wine  hath  over- 

come, 
Because  of  Jehovah  and  His  holy  words." 

Thus  we  have  in  chapter  xxiii.  a  full  and  formal 
statement  of  the  controversy  between  Jeremiah  and  his 
brother-prophets.  On  the  one  hand,  self-seeking  and 
self-assurance  v/inning  popularity  by  orthodox  phrases, 
traditional  doctrine,  and  the  prophesying  of  smooth 
things  ;  on  the  other  hand,  a  man  to  whom  the  word 
of  the  Lord  was  like  a  fire  in  his  bones,  who  had 
surrendered  prejudice  and  predilection  that  he  might 
himself  become  a  hammer  to  shatter  the  Lord's  enemies, 
a  man  through  whom  God  wrought  so  mightily  that 
he  himself  reeled  and  staggered  with  the  blows  of 
which  he  v/as  the  instrument. 

The  relation  of  the  two  parties  was  not  unlike  that 
of  St.  Paul  and  his  Corinthian  adversaries  :  the  prophet, 
like  the  Apostle,  spoke  "  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit 
and  of  power";  he  considered  ''not  the  word  of  them 
which  are  pufied  up,  but  the  power.  For  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  not  in  word,  but  in  power."  In  our  next 
chapter  we  shall  see  the  practical  working  of  this 
antagonism  which  we  have  here  set  forth. 


CHAPTER   IX 

HANANIAH 

xxvii.,  xxviii. 

"  Hear  now,  Hananiah ;  Jehovah  hath  not  sent  thee,  but  thou 
makest  this  people  to  trust  in  a  lie." — Jer.  xxviii.  15. 

THE  most  conspicuous  point  at  issue  between 
Jeremiah  and  his  opponents  was  poHtical  rather 
than  ecclesiastical.  Jeremiah  was  anxious  that  Zedekiah 
should  keep  faith  with  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  not  in- 
volve Judah  in  useless  misery  by  another  hopeless 
revolt.  The  prophets  preached  the  popular  doctrine 
of  an  imminent  Divine  intervention  to  deliver  Judah 
from  her  oppressors.  They  devoted  themselves  to  the 
easy  task  of  fanning  patriotic  enthusiasm,  till  the  Jews 
were  ready  for  any  enterprise,  however  reckless. 

During  the  opening  years  of  the  new  reign,  Nebu- 
chadnezzar's recent  capture  of  Jerusalem  and  the  con- 
sequent wholesale  deportation  were  fresh  in  men's 
minds ;  fear  of  the  Chaldeans  together  with  the  influence 
of  Jeremiah  kept  the  government  from  any  overt  act  of 
rebellion.  According  to  li.  59,  the  king  even  paid  a 
visit  to  Babylon,  to  do  homage  to  his  suzerain. 

It   was  probably  in   the  fourth   year  of  his  reign  ^ 

^  The  close  connection  between  xxvii.  and  xxviii.  shows  that  the 
date  in  xxviii.  i,  **  the  fourth  year  of  Zedekiah,"  covers  both  chapters. 
"Jehoiakim"  in  xxvii.  i  is  a  misreading  for  "Zedekiah":  see  R.V. 
margin. 

"5 


Ii6  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

that  the  tributary  Syrian  states  began  to  prepare  for 
a  united  revolt  against  Babylon.  The  Assyrian  and 
Chaldean  annals  constantly  mention  such  combina- 
tions, which  were  formed  and  broken  up  and  reformed 
with  as  much  ease  and  variety  as  patterns  in  a 
kaleidoscope.  On  t^e  present  occasion  the  kings  of 
Edom,  Moab,  Ammon,  Tyre,  and  Zidon  sent  their 
ambassadors  to  Jerusalem  to  arrange  with  Zedekiah 
for  concerted  action.  But  there  were  more  important 
persons  to  deal  with  in  that  city  than  Zedekiah. 
Doubtless  the  princes  of  Judah  welcomed  the  oppor- 
tunity for  a  new  revolt.  But  before  the  negotiations 
were  very  far  advanced,  Jeremiah  heard  what  was 
going  on.  By  Divine  command,  he  made  ''  bands  and 
bars,"  i.e.  yokes,  for  himself  and  for  the  ambassadors 
of  the  allies,  or  possibly  for  them  to  carry  home  to 
their  mxasters.  They  received  their  ansv/er,  not  from 
Zedekiah,  but  from  the  true  King  of  Israel,  Jehovah 
Himself.  They  had  come  to  solicit  armed  assistance 
to  deHver  them  from  Babylon  ;  they  were  sent  back  with 
yokes  to  wear  as  a  symbol  of  their  entire  and  helpless 
subjection  to  Nebuchadnezzar.  This  was  the  word  of 
Jehovah : — 

"The  nation  and  the  kingdom  that  will  not  put  its  neck  beneath 
the  yoke  of  the  king  of  Babylon, 
That  nation  will  I  visit  with  sword  and  famine  and  pestilence 
until  I  consume  them  by  his  hand." 

The  allied  kings  had  been  encouraged  to  revolt  by 
oracles  similar  to  those  uttered  by  the  Jewish  prophets 
in  the  name  of  Jehovah  ;  but  : — 

"  As  for  you,  hearken   not   to   your   prophets,   diviners,   dreams, 

soothsayers  and  sorcerers, 
When   they   speak   unto   you,    saying,    Ye   shall    not   serve   the 
king  of  Babylon. 


xxvii.,  xxviii.]  HANANIAH  n? 

They  prophesy  a  lie  unto  3'ou,  to  remove  you  far  from  j-our 
land ; 

That  I  should  drive  you  out,  and  that  you  should  perish. 

But  the  nation  that  shall  bring  their  neck  under  the  yoke  of 
the  king  of  Babylon,  and  serve  him, 

That  nation  will  I  maintain  in  their  own  land  (it  is  the  utter- 
ance of  Jehovah),  and  they  shall  till  it  and  dwell  in 
it."  .^ 

When  he  had  sent  his  message  to  the  foreign 
envoys,  Jeremiah  addressed  an  ahnost  identical  admoni- 
tion to  his  own  king.  He  bids  him  submit  to  the 
Chaldean  yoke,  under  the  same  penalties  for  dis- 
obedience— sword,  pestilence,  and  famine  for  himself 
and  his  people.  He  warns  him  also  against  delusive 
promises  of  the  prophets,  especially  in  the  matter  of 
the  sacred  vessels. 

The  popular  doctrine  of  the  inviolable  sanctity  of 
the  Temple  had  sustained  a  severe  shock  when  Nebu- 
chadnezzar carried  off  the  sacred  vessels  to  Babylon. 
It  was  inconceivable  that  Jehovah  would  patiently 
submit  to  so  gross  an  indignity.  In  ancient  days 
the  Ark  had  plagued  its  Philistine  captors  till  they 
were  only  too  thankful  to  be  rid  of  it.  Later  on  a 
graphic  narrative  in  the  Book  of  Daniel  told  with 
what  swift  vengeance  God  punished  Belshazzar  for 
his  profane  use  of  these  very  vessels.  So  now  patrio- 
tic prophets  were  convinced  that  the  golden  candle- 
stick, the  bowls  and  chargers  of  gold  and  silver,  would 
soon  return  in  triumph,  like  the  Ark  of  old ;  and  their 
return  would  be  the  symbol  of  the  final  deliverance 
of  Judah  from  Babylon.  Naturally  the  priests  above 
all  others  would  welcome  such  a  prophecy,  and  would 
industriously  disseminate  it.  But  Jeremiah  ^'  spake 
to  the  priests  and  all  this  people,  saying,  Thus  saith 
Jehovah : — 


1 8  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


"  Hearken  not  unto  the  words  of  your  prophets,  which  prophesy 

unto  you, 
Behold,  the  vessels  of  the  house  of  Jehovah  shall  be  brought  back 

from  Babylon  now  speedily  : 
For  they  prophesy  a  lie  unto  3'ou." 

How  could  Jehovah  grant  triumphant  dehverance  to  a 
carnally  minded  people  who  would  not  understand  His 
Revelation,  and  did  not  discern  any  essential  difference 
between  Him  and  Moloch  and  Baal  ? 

•'  Hearken  not  unto  them  ;  serve  the  king  of  Babylon  and  live. 
Why  should  this  city  become  a  desolation  ?  " 

Possibly,  however,  even  now,  the  Divine  compassion 
might  have  spared  Jerusalem  the  agony  and  shame  of 
her  final  siege  and  captivity.  God  would  not  at  once 
restore  what  was  lost,  but  He  might  spare  what  was 
still  left.  Jeremiah  could  not  endorse  the  glowing 
promises  of  the  prophets,  but  he  would  unite  with 
them  to  intercede  for  mercy  upon  the  remnant  of 
Israel. 

"  If  they  are  prophets  and  the  word  of  Jehovah  is  with  them, 
Let   them  intercede  with  Jehovah  Sabaoth,   that  the   rest  of  the 
vessels  of  the  Temple,  the  Palace,  and   the  City  may  not  go 
to  Babylon." 

The  God  of  Israel  was  yet  ready  to  welcome  any 
beginning  of  true  repentance.  Like  the  father  of 
the  Prodigal  Son,  He  would  meet  His  people  when 
they  were  on  the  way  back  to  Him.  Any  stirring 
of  filial  penitence  would  win  an  instant  and  gracious 
response. 

We  can  scarcely  suppose  that  this  appeal  by 
Jeremiah  to  his  brother-prophets  was  merely  sarcastic 
and  denunciatory.  Passing  circumstances  may  have 
brought  Jeremiah  into  friendly  intercourse  with  some 


xxvii.,  xxviii.]  HANANIAH  119 

of  his  opponents ;  personal  contact  may  have  begotten 
something  of  mutual  kindliness;  and  hence  there  arose 
a  transient  gleam  of  hope  that  reconciliation  and  co- 
operation might  still  be  possible.  But  it  was  soon 
evident  that  the  "  patriotic  "  party  would  not  renounce 
their  vain  dreams ;  Judah  must  drink  the  cup  of  wrath 
to  the  dregs  :  the  pillars,  the  sea,  the  bases,  the  rest  of 
the  vessels  left  in  Jerusalem  must  also  be  carried  to 
Babylon,  and  remain  there  till  Jehovah  should  visit 
the  Jews  and  bring  them  back  and  restore  them  to 
their  own  land. 

Thus  did  Jeremiah  meet  the  attempt  of  the  govern- 
micnt  to  organise  a  Syrian  revolt  against  Babylon,  and 
thus  did  lie  give  the  lie  to  the  promises  of  Divine 
blessing  made  by  the  prophets.  In  the  face  of  his 
utterances,  it  was  difficult  to  maintain  the  popular 
enthusiasm  necessary  to  a  successful  revolt.  In  order 
to  neutralise,  if  possible,  the  impression  made  by 
Jeremiah,  the  government  put  forward  one  of  their 
prophetic  supporters  to  deliver  a  counter-blast.  The 
place  and  the  occasion  were  similar  to  those  chosen 
by  Jeremiah  for  his  cv/n  address  to  the  people  and 
for  Baruch's  reading  of  the  roll — the  court  of  the 
Tem.ple  where  the  priests  and  "  all  the  people  "  were 
assembled.  Jeremiah  himself  was  there.  Possibly  it 
was  a  feast-day.  The  incident  came  to  be  regarded  as 
of  special  importance,  and  a  distinct  heading  is  attached 
to  it,  specifjang  its  exact  date,  ''in  the  same  3'ear " — 
as  the  incidents  of  the  previous  chapter — "  in  the 
beginning  of  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  in  the  fourth  year, 
in  the  fifth  month." 

On  such  an  occasion,  Jerem.iah's  opponents  would 
select  as  their  representative  some  striking  personality, 
a    man    of  high   reputation    for    ability   and    personal 


THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


character.  Such  a  man,  apparently,  they  found  in 
Hananiah  ben  Azzur  of  Gibeon.  Let  us  consider  for 
a  moment  this  mouthpiece  and  champion  of  a  great 
political  and  ecclesiastical  party,  we  might  almost  say 
of  a  National  Government  and  a  National  Church. 
He  is  never  mentioned  except  in  chapter  xxviii.,  but 
what  we  read  here  is  sufficiently  characteristic,  and 
receives  much  light  from  the  other  literature  of  the 
period.  As  Gibeon  is  assigned  to  the  priests  in 
Joshua  xxi.  17,  it  has  been  conjectured  that,  like 
Jeremiah  himself,  Hananiah  was  a  priest.  The  special 
stress  laid  on  the  sacred  vessels  would  be  in  accordance 
with  this  theory. 

In  our  last  chapter  we  expounded  Jeremiah's  descrip- 
tion of  his  prophetic  contemporaries,  as  self-important 
and  time-serving,  guilty  of  plagiarism  and  cant.  Now 
from  this  dim,  inarticulate  crowd  of  professional  pro- 
phets, an  individual  steps  for  a  moment  into  the  light 
of  history  and  speaks  with  clearness  and  emphasis. 
Let  us  gaze  at  him,  and  hear  what  he  has  to  say. 

If  we  could  have  been  present  at  this  scene  imme- 
diately after  a  careful  study  of  chapter  xxvii.  even 
the  appearance  of  Hananiah  would  have  caused  us  a 
shock  of  surprise — such  as  is  sometimes  experienced 
by  a  devout  student  of  Protestant  literature  on  being 
introduced  to  a  live  Jesuit,  or  by  some  budding  secu- 
larist when  he  first  makes  the  personal  acquaintance 
of  a  curate.  We  might  possibly  have  discerned  some- 
thing commonplace,  some  lack  of  depth  and  force  in 
the  man  whose  faith  was  merely  conventional ;  but  we 
should  have  expected  to  read  "  liar  and  hypocrite " 
in  every  line  of  his  countenance,  and  we  should  have 
seen  nothing  of  the  sort.  Conscious  of  the  enthusiastic 
support  of  his  fellow-countrymen  and  especially  of  his 


XXVll,.  XXVlll 


,]  HANANIAH 


own  order,  charged — as  he  believed — with  a  message  of 
promise  for  Jerusalem,  Hananiah's  face  and  bearing,  as 
he  came  forward  to  address  his  sympathetic  audience, 
betrayed  nothing  unworthy  of  the  high  calling  of  a 
prophet.  His  words  had  the  true  prophetic  ring,  he 
spoke  with  assured  authority : — 

"Thus  saith  Jehovah  Sabaoth,  the  God  of  Israel, 
I  have  broken  the  yoke  of  the  king  of  Babylon." 

His  special  object  was  to  remove  the  unfavourable 
impression  caused  by  Jeremiah's  contradiction  of  the 
promise  concerning  the  sacred  vessels.  Like  Jeremiah, 
he  meets  this  denial  in  the  strongest  and  most  con- 
vincing fashion.  He  does  not  argue— he  reiterates  the 
promise  in  a  more  definite  form  and  with  more  emphatic 
asseveration.  Like  Jonah  at  Nineveh,  he  ventures  to 
fix  an  exact  date  in  the  immediate  future  for  the 
fulfilment  of  the  prophecy.  "Yet  forty  days,"  said 
Jonah,  but  the  next  day  he  had  to  swallow  his  own 
words ;  and  Hananiah's  prophetic  chronology  met  with 
no  better  fate  : — 

*'  Within  two  full  years  will  I  bring  again  to  this 
place  all  the  vessels  of  the  Temple,  that  Nebuchad- 
nezzar king  of  Babylon  took  away." 

The  full  significance  of  this  promise  is  shown  by  the 
further  addition  : — 

*'And  I  will  bring  again  to  this  place  the  king  of 
Judah,  Jeconiah  ben  Jehoiakim,  and  all  the  captives 
of  Judah  that  went  to  Babylon  (it  is  the  utterance 
of  Jehovah)  ;  for  I  will  break  the  yoke  of  the  king  of 
Babylon." 

This  bold  challenge  was  promptly  met : — 

"The  prophet  Jeremiah  said  unto  the  prophet 
Hananiah  before  the  priests  and  all  the  people  that 


THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 


Stood  in  the  Temple."  Not  ''the  true  prophet"  and 
"the  false  prophet,"  not  "the  man  of  God"  and  "the 
impostor,"  but  simply  "the  prophet  Jeremiah"  and 
"  the  prophet  Hananiah."  The  audience  discerned  no 
obvious  difference  of  status  or  authority  between  the 
two — if  anything  the  advantage  lay  with  Hananiah; 
they  watched  the  scene  as  a  modern  churchman  might 
regard  a  discussion  between  ritualistic  and  evangelical 
bishops  at  a  Church  Congress,  only  Hananiah  was 
their  ideal  of  a  "  good  churchman."  The  true  parallel 
is  not  debates  betvv^een  atheists  and  the  Christian 
Evidence  Society,  or  between  missionaries  and 
Brahmins,  but  controversies  Hke  those  between  Arius 
and  Athanasius,  Jerome  and  Rufinus,  Cyril  and  Chry- 
sostom. 

These  prophets,  however,  display  a  courtesy  and 
self-restraint  that  have,  for  the  most  part,  been  absent 
from  Christian  polemics. 

"Jeremiah  the  prophet  said.  Amen:  may  Jehovah 
bring  it  to  pass  ;  may  He  establish  the  words  of  thy 
prophecy,  by  bringing  back  again  from  Babylon  unto 
this  place  both  the  vessels  of  the  Temple  and  all  the 
captives." 

With  that  entire  sincerity  which  is  the  most  con- 
summate tact,  Jeremiah  avows  his  sympathy  with  his 
opponents'  patriotic  aspirations,  and  recognises  that 
they  were  worthy  of  Hebrew  prophets.  But  patriotic 
aspirations  were  not  a  sufficent  reason  for  claiming 
Divine  authority  for  a  cheap  optimism.  Jeremiah's 
reflection  upon  the  past  had  led  him  to  an  entirel}^ 
opposite  philosophy  of  history.  Behind  Hananiah's 
words  lay  the  claim  that  the  religious  traditions  of 
Israel  and  the  teaching  of  former  prophets  guaranteed 
the   inviolability   of  the   Temple  and   the    Holy  City. 


xxvii.,  xxviii.]  HANANIAH 


Jeremiah  appealed  to  their  authority  for  his  message 
of  doom  : — 

*'  The  ancient  prophets  who  were  our  predecessors 
prophesied  war  and  calamity  and  pestilence  against 
many  countries  and  great  kingdoms." 

It  was  almost  a  mark  of  the  true  prophet  that  he 
should  be  the  herald  of  disaster.  The  prophetical 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  Canon  fully  confirm  this 
startling  and  unwelcome  statement.  Their  main  burden 
is  the  ruin  and  misery  that  await  Israel  and  its 
neighbours.  The  presumption  therefore  was  in  favour 
of  the  prophet  of  evil,  and  against  the  prophet  of  good. 
Jeremiah  does  not,  of  course,  deny  that  there  had  been, 
and  might  yet  be,  prophets  of  good.  Indeed  every 
prophet,  he  himself  included,  announced  some  Divine 
promise,  but : — 

"  The  prophet  which  prophesieth  of  peace  shall  be 
known  as  truly  sent  of  Jehovah  when  his  prophecy  is 
fulfilled." 

It  seemed  a  fair  reply  to  Hananiah's  challenge.  His 
prophecy  of  the  return  of  the  sacred  vessels  and  the 
exiles  within  two  years  was  intended  to  encourage 
Judah  and  its  allies  to  persist  in  their  revolt.  They 
would  be  at  once  victorious,  and  recover  all  and  more 
than  all  which  they  had  lost.  Under  such  circum- 
stances Jeremiah's  criterion  of  *'  prophecies  of  peace  " 
was  eminently  practical.  "  You  are  promised  these 
blessings  within  two  years :  very  well,  do  not  run  the 
terrible  risks  of  a  rebellion ;  keep  quiet  and  see  if  the 
two  years  bring  the  fulfilment  of  this  prophecy — it  is 
not  long  to  wait."  Hananiah  might  fairly  have  replied 
that  this  fulfilment  depended  on  Judah's  faith  and 
loyalty  to  the  Divine  promise ;  and  their  faith  and 
loyalty  would  be  best  shown  by  rebelling  against  their 


124  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

oppressors.  Jehovah  promised  Canaan  to  the  Hebrews 
of  the  Exodus,  but  their  carcasses  mouldered  in  the 
desert  because  they  had  not  courage  enough  to  attack 
formidable  enemies.  "Let  us  not/'  Hananiah  might 
have  said,  *'  imitate  their  cowardice,  and  thus  share 
alike  their  unbehef  and  its  penalty." 

Neither  Jeremiah's  premises  nor  his  conclusions 
would  commend  his  words  to  the  audience,  and  he 
probably  weakened  his  position  by  leaving  the  high 
ground  of  authority  and  descending  to  argument. 
Hananiah  at  any  rate  did  not  follow  his  example  :  he 
adheres  to  his  former  method,  and  reiterates  with 
renewed  emphasis  the  promise  which  his  adversary 
had  contradicted.  Following  Jeremiah  in  his  use  of 
the  parable  in  action,  so  common  with  Hebrew  prophets, 
he  turned  the  symbol  of  the  yoke  against  its  author. 
As  Zedekiah  ben  Chenaanah  made  him  horns  of  iron 
and  prophesied  to  Ahab  and  Jehoshaphat,  *'  Thus  saith 
Jehovah,  With  these  shalt  thou  push  the  Syrians 
until  thou  have  consumed  them,"  ^  so  now  Hananiah 
took  the  yoke  off  Jeremiah's  neck  and  broke  it  before 
the  assembled  people  and  said : — 

''Thus  saith  Jehovah,  Even  so  will  I  break  the 
yoke  of  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon  from  the 
neck  of  all  nations  within  two  full  years." 

Naturally  the  promise  is  "  for  all  nations  " — not  for 
Judah  only,  but  for  the  other  allies. 

''And  the  prophet  Jeremiah  went  his  way."  For  the 
moment  Hananiah  had  triumphed ;  he  had  had  the 
last  word,  and  Jeremiah  was  silenced.  A  public  debate 
before  a  partisan  audience  was  not  likely  to  issue  in 
victory  for  the  truth.     The  situation  may  have  even 

'  I  Kings  xxii.  ii. 


xxvii.,  xxviii.]  HANANIAH  125 

shaken  his  faith  in  himself  and  his  message  ;  he  may 
have  been  staggered  for  a  moment  by  Hananiah's 
apparent  earnestness  and  conviction.  He  could  not 
but  remember  that  the  gloomy  predictions  of  Isaiah's 
earlier  ministry  had  been  followed  by  the  glorious 
deliverance  from  Sennacherib.  Possibly  some  similar 
sequel  was  to  follow  his  own  denunciations.  He 
betook  himself  anew  to  fellowship  with  God,  and  awaited 
a  fresh  mandate  from  Jehovah. 

"Then  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto  Jeremiali, 
...  Go  and  tell  Hananiah :  Thou  hast  broken  wooden 
yokes ;  thou  shalt  make  iron  yokes  in  their  stead.  For 
thus  saith  Jehovah  Sabaoth,  the  God  of  Israel :  I  have 
put  a  yoke  of  iron  upon  the  necks  of  all  these 
nations,  that  they  may  serve  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of 
Babylon."  ^ 

We  are  not  told  how  long  Jeremiah  had  to  wait  for 
this  new  message,  or  under  what  circumstances  it  was 
delivered  to  Hananiah.  Its  symbolism  is  obvious. 
When  Jeremiah  sent  the  yokes  to  the  ambassadors 
of  the  allies  and  exhorted  Zedekiah  to  bring  his  neck 
under  the  yoke  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  they  were  required 
to  accept  the  comparatively  tolerable  servitude  of  tribu- 
taries. Their  impatience  of  this  minor  evil  would 
expose  them  to  the  iron  yoke  of  ruin  and  captivity. 

Thus  the  prophet  of  evil  received  new  Divine  assur- 
ance of  the  abiding  truth  of  his  message  and  of  the 
reality  of  his  own  inspiration.  The  same  revelation 
convinced  him  that  his  opponent  was  either  an  impostor 
or  woefully  deluded  : — 

"  Then  said  the  prophet  Jeremiah  unto  the  prophet 

*  The  rest  of  this  verse  has  apparently  been  inserted  from  xxvii.  6 
by  a  scribe.     It  is  omitted  by  the  LXX. 


126  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

Hananiah,  Hear  now,  Hananiah ;  Jehovah  hath  not 
sent  thee,  but  thou  makest  this  people  to  trust  in  a  lie. 
Therefore  thus  saith  Jehovah  :  I  will  cast  thee  away 
from  off  the  face  of  the  earth  ;  this  year  thou  shalt  die, 
because  thou  hast  preached  rebellion  against  Jehovah." 

By  a  judgment  not  unmixed  with  mercy,  Hananiah 
was  not  left  to  be  convicted  of  error  or  imposture, 
when  the  *'  two  full  years  "  should  have  elapsed,  and 
his  glowing  promises  be  seen  to  utterly  fail.  He  also 
was  ^'  taken  away  from  the  evil  to  come." 

."So  Hananiah  the  prophet  died  in  the  same  year 
in  the  seventh  month" — i.e.  about  two  months  after 
this  incident.  Such  personal  judgments  were  most 
frequent  in  the  case  of  kings,  but  were  not  confined 
to  them.  Isaiah  ^  left  on  record  prophecies  concern- 
ing the  appointment  to  the  treasurership  of  Shebna 
and  Eliakim ;  and  elsewhere  Jeremiah  himself  pro- 
nounces the  doom  of  Pashhur  ben  Immer,  the  governor 
of  the  Temple ;  but  the  conclusion  of  this  incident 
reminds  us  most  forcibly  of  the  speedy  execution  of 
the  apostoHc  sentence  upon  Ananias  and  Sapphira. 

The  subjects  of  this  and  the  preceding  chapter 
raise  some  of  the  most  important  questions  as  to 
authority  in  religion.  On  the  one  hand,  on  the  sub- 
jective side,  how  may  a  man  be  assured  of  the  truth 
of  his  own  religious  convictions  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
on  the  objective  side,  how  is  the  hearer  to  decide 
between   conflicting   claims   on    his    faith   and   obedi- 


ence 


? 


The  former  question  is  raised  as  to  the  personal 
convictions  of  the  two  prophets.  We  have  ventured 
to  assume  that,  however  erring  and  culpable  Hananiah 

'  xxii.    15-25. 


xxvii.,  xxviii.]  HANANIAH  127 

may  have  been,  he  yet  had  an  honest  faith  in  his  own 
inspiration  and  in  the  truth  of  his  own  prophecies. 
The  conscious  impostor,  unhappily,  is  not  unknown 
either  in  ancient  or  modern  Churches ;  but  we  should 
not  look  for  edification  from  the  study  of  this  branch 
of  morbid  spiritual  pathology.  There  were  doubt- 
less Jewish  counterparts  to  "  Mr.  Sludge  the  Medium  " 
and  to  the  more  subtle  and  plausible  ''  Bishop  Blou- 
gram  " ;  but  Hananiah  was  of  a  different  type.  The 
evident  respect  felt  for  him  by  the  people,  Jeremiah's 
almost  deferential  courtesy  and  temporary  hesitation 
as  to  his  rival's  Divine  mission,  do  not  suggest 
deliberate  hypocrisy.  Hananiah's  ^'  lie "  was  a  false- 
hood in  fact  but  not  in  intention.  The  Divine  message 
"  Jehovah  hath  not  sent  thee  "  was  felt  by  Jeremiah 
to  be  no  mere  exposure  of  what  Hananiah  had  known 
all  along,  but  to  be  a  revelation  to  his  adversary  as 
well  as  to  himself. 

The  sweeping  condemnation  of  the  prophets  in 
chapter  xxiii.  does  not  exclude  the  possibility  of 
Hananiah's  honesty,  any  more  than  our  Lord's  de- 
nunciation of  the  Pharisees  as  ''  devourers  of  widows' 
houses"  necessarily  includes  Gamaliel.  In  critical 
times,  upright,  earnest  men  do  not  always  espouse 
what  subsequent  ages  hold  to  have  been  the  cause  of 
truth.  Sir  Thomas  More  and  Erasmus  remained  in 
the  communion  which  Luther  renounced :  Hamipden 
and  Falkland  found  themselves  in  opposite  camps. 
If  such  men  erred  in  their  choice  between  right  and 
wrong,  we  may  often  feel  anxious  as  to  our  own 
decisions.  When  we  find  ourselves  in  opposition  to 
earnest  and  devoted  men,  we  may  well  pause  to  con- 
sider which  is  Jeremiah  and  which  Hananiah. 

The  point  at  issue  between  these  two  prophets  was 


128  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

exceedingly  simple  and  practical — whether  Jehovah 
approved  of  the  proposed  revolt  and  would  reward  it 
with  success.  Theological  questions  were  only  in- 
directly and  remotely  involved.  Yet,  in  face  of  his 
opponent's  persistent  asseverations,  Jeremiah — perhaps 
the  greatest  of  the  prophets — went  his  way  in  silence 
to  obtain  fresh  Divine  confirmation  of  his  message. 
And  the  man  who  hesitated  was  right. 

Two  lessons  immediately  follow,  one  as  to  practice, 
the  other  as  to  principle.  It  often  happens  that 
earnest  servants  of  God  find  themselves  at  variance, 
not  on  simple  practical  questions,  but  on  the  history 
and  criticism  of  the  remote  past,  or  on  abstruse  points 
of  transcendental  theology.  Before  any  one  ventures 
to  denounce  his  adversary  as  a  teacher  of  deadly  error, 
let  him,  like  Jeremiah,  seek,  in  humble  and  prayerful 
submission  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  a  Divine  mandate  for 
such  denunciation. 

But  again  Jeremiah  was  willing  to  reconsider  his 
position,  not  merely  because  he  himself  might  have 
been  mistaken,  but  because  altered  circumstances  might 
have  opened  the  way  for  a  change  in  God's  deahngs. 
It  was  a  bare  possibilit}^,  but  we  have  seen  elsewhere 
that  Jeremiah  represents  God  as  willing  to  make  a 
gracious  response  to  the  first  movement  of  compunction. 
Prophecy  was  the  declaration  of  His  will,  and  that 
will  was  not  arbitrary,  but  at  every  moment  and  at 
every  point  exactly  adapted  to  conditions  with  which 
it  had  to  deal.  Its  principles  were  unchangeable  and 
eternal ;  but  prophecy  was  chiefly  an  application  of 
these  principles  to  existing  circumstances.  The  true 
prophet  always  realised  that  his  words  were  for  men 
as  they  were  when  he  addressed  them.  Any  moment 
might  bring  a  change  which  would  abrogate  or  modify 


xxvii.,  xxviii.]  HANANIAH  129 

the  old  teaching,  and  require  and  receive  a  new 
message.  Like  Jonah,  he  might  have  to  proclaim  ruin 
one  day  and  deliverance  the  next.  A  physician,  even 
after  the  most  careful  diagnosis,  may  have  to  recognise 
unsuspected  symptoms  which  lead  him  to  cancel  his 
prescription  and  write  a  new  one.  The  sickening  and 
healing  of  the  soul  involve  changes  equally  unexpected. 
The  Bible  does  not  teach  that  inspiration,  any  more 
than  science,  has  only  one  treatment  for  each  and  every 
spiritual  condition  and  contingency.  The  true  prophet's 
message  is  always  a  word  in  season. 

We  turn  next  to  the  objective  question :  How  is 
the  hearer  to  decide  between  conflicting  claims  on  his 
faith  and  obedience?  We  say  the  right  was  with 
Jeremiah;  but  how  were  the  Jews  to  know  that? 
They  were  addressed  by  two  prophets,  or,  as  we  might 
say,  two  accredited  ecclesiastics  of  the  national  Church  ; 
each  with  apparent  earnestness  and  sincerity  claimed 
to  speak  in  the  name  of  Jehovah  and  of  the  ancient 
faith  of  Israel,  and  each  flatly  contradicted  the  other 
on  an  immediate  practical  question,  on  which  hung 
their  individual  fortunes  and  the  destinies  of  their 
country.  What  were  the  Jews  to  do  ?  Which  were 
they  to  believe  ?  It  is  the  standing  difficulty  of  all 
appeals  to  external  authority.  You  inquire  of  this 
supposed  divine  oracle  and  there  issues  from  it  a  babel 
of  discordant  voices,  and  each  demands  that  you  shall 
unhesitatingly  submit  to  its  dictates  on  peril  of  eternal 
damnation ;  and  some  have  the  audacity  to  claim 
obedience,  because  their  teaching  is  ^^  quod  semper^ 
quod  ubique,  quod  ah  omnibus.''^ 

One  simple  and  practical  test  is  indeed  suggested 
— the  prophet  of  evil  is  more  likely  to  be  truly  inspired 
than  the  prophet  of  good  ;  but  Jeremiah  naturally  does 

9 


I30  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

not  claim  that  this  is  an  invariable  test.  Nor  can  he 
have  meant  that  you  can  always  believe  prophecies 
of  evil  withoiit  any  hesitation,  but  that  you  are  to  put 
no  faith  in  promises  until  they  are  fulfilled.  Yet  it  is 
not  difficult  to  discern  the  truth  underlying  Jeremiah's 
words.  The  prophet  whose  words  are  unpalatable  to 
his  hearers  is  more  likely  to  have  a  true  inspiration 
than  the  man  who  kindles  their  fancy  with  glowing 
pictures  of  an  imminent  millennium.  The  divine  mes- 
sage to  a  congregation  of  country  squires  is  more  likely 
to  be  an  exhortation  to  be  just  to  their  tenants  than 
a  sermon  on  the  duty  of  the  labourer  to  his  betters. 
A  true  prophet  addressing  an  audience  of  working 
men  would  perhaps  deal  with  the  abuses  of  trades 
unions  rather  than  with  the  sins  of  capitalists. 

But  this  principle,  which  is  necessarily  of  limited 
application,  does  not  go  far  to  solve  the  great  question 
of  authority  in  religion,  on  which  Jeremiah  gives  us 
no  further  help. 

There  is,  however,  one  obvious  moral.  No  system 
of  external  authority,  whatever  pains  may  be  taken 
to  secure  authentic  legitimacy,  can  altogether  release 
the  individual  from  the  responsibility  of  private  judg- 
ment. Unreserved  faith  in  the  idea  of  a  Catholic 
Church  is  quite  consistent  with  much  hesitation  between 
the  Anglican,  Roman,  and  Greek  communions  ;  and  the 
most  devoted  Catholic  may  be  called  upon  to  choose 
between  rival  anti-popes. 

Ultimately  the  inspired  teacher  is  only  discerned 
by  the  inspired  hearer  ;  it  is  the  answer  of  the  con- 
science that  authenticates  the  divine  message. 


CHAPTER    X 

CORRESPONDENCE    WITH    THE   EXILES 


"Jehovah  make  thee  like  Zedekiah  and  Ahab,  whom  the  king  of 
Babylon  roasted  in  the  fire." — Jer.  xxix.  22. 

NOTHING  further  is  said  about  the  proposed 
revolt,  so  that  Jeremiah's  vigorous  protest  seems 
to  have  been  successful.  In  any  case,  unless  irre- 
vocable steps  had  been  taken,  the  enterprise  could 
hardly  have  survived  the  death  of  its  advocate, 
Hananiah.  Accordingly  Zedekiah  sent  an  embassy 
to  Babylon,  charged  doubtless  with  plausible  explana- 
tions and  profuse  professions  of  loyalty  and  devotion. 
The  envoys  were  Elasah  ben  Shaphan  and  Gemariah 
ben  Hilkiah.  Shaphan  and  Hilkiah  were  almost 
certainly  the  scribe  and  high  priest  who  discovered 
Deuteronomy  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  Josiah,  and 
Elasah  was  the  brother  of  Ahikam  ben  Shaphan,  who 
protected  Jeremiah  in  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim, 
and  of  Gemariah  ben  Shaphan,  in  whose  chamber 
Baruch  read  the  roll,  and  who  protested  against  its 
destruction.  Probably  Elasah  and  Gemariah  were 
adherents  of  Jeremiah,  and  the  fact  of  the  embassy, 
as  well  as  the  choice  of  ambassadors,  suggests  that, 
for  the  moment,  Zedekiah  was  acting  under  the 
influence  of  the  prophet.      Jeremiah  took  the  oppor- 

131 


132  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

tunity  of  sending  a  letter  to  the  exiles  at  Babylon. 
Hananiah  had  his  allies  in  Chaldea :  Ahab  ben  Kolaiah, 
Zedekiah  ben  Maaseiah,  and  Shemaiah  the  Nehelamite, 
with  other  prophets,  diviners,  and  dreamers,  had 
imitated  their  brethren  in  Judah  ;  they  had  prophesied 
without  being  sent  and  had  caused  the  people  to 
believe  a  lie.  We  are  not  expressly  told  what  they 
prophesied,  but  the  narrative  takes  for  granted  that 
they,  like  Hananiah,  promised  the  exiles  a  speedy 
return  to  their  native  land.  Such  teaching  naturally 
met  with  much  acceptance,  the  people  congratulating 
themselves  because,  as  they  supposed,  "  Jehovah  hath 
raised  us  up  prophets  in  Babylon."  The  presence  of 
prophets  among  them  was  received  as  a  welcome  proof 
that  Jehovah  had  not  deserted  His  people  in  their 
house  of  bondage. 

Thus  when  Jeremiah  had  confounded  his  opponents 
in  Jerusalem  he  had  still  to  deal  with  their  friends  in 
Babylon.  Here  again  the  issue  was  one  of  immediate 
practical  importance.  In  Chaldea  as  at  Jerusalem  the 
prediction  that  the  exiles  would  immediately  return  was 
intended  to  kindle  the  proposed  revolt.  The  Jews 
at  Babylon  were  virtually  warned  to  hold  themselves 
in  readiness  to  take  advantage  of  any  success  of  the 
Syrian  rebels,  and,  if  opportunity  offered,  to  render 
them  assistance.  In  those  days  information  travelled 
slowly,  and  there  was  some  danger  lest  the  captives 
should  be  betrayed  into  acts  of  disloyalty,  even  after 
the  Jewish  government  had  given  up  any  present 
intention  of  revolting  against  Nebuchadnezzar.  Such 
disloyalty  might  have  involved  their  entire  destruction. 
Both  Zedekiah  and  Jeremiah  would  be  anxious  to 
inform  them  at  once  that  they  must  refrain  from  any 
plots  against  their  Chaldean   masters.      Moreover  the 


xxix.]       CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  EXILES  133 

prospect  of  an  immediate  return  had  very  much  the 
same  effect  upon  these  Jews  as  the  expectation  of 
Christ's  Second  Coming  had  upon  the  primitive  Church 
at  Thessalonica.  It  made  them  restless  and  disorderly. 
They  could  not  settle  to  any  regular  work,  but  became 
busybodies — wasting  their  time  over  the  glowing 
promises  of  their  popular  preachers,  and  whispering 
to  one  another  wild  rumours  of  successful  revolts  in 
Syria ;  or  were  even  more  dangerously  occupied  in 
planning  conspiracies  against  their  conquerors. 

Jeremiah's  letter  sought  to  bring  about  a  better  state 
of  mind.  It  is  addressed  to  the  elders,  priests, 
prophets,  and  people  of  the  Captivity.  The  enumera- 
tion reminds  us  how  thoroughly  the  exiled  community 
reproduced  the  society  of  the  ancient  Jewish  state — 
there  was  already  a  miniature  Judah  in  Chaldea,  the 
first  of  those  Israels  of  the  Dispersion  which  have 
since  covered  the  face  of  the  earth. 

This  is  Jehovah's  message  by  His  prophet : — 

"  Build  houses  and  dwell  in  them ; 
Plant  gardens  and  eat  the  fruit  thereof; 
Marry  and  beget  sons  and  daughters; 
Marry  your  sons  and  daughters, 
That  they  may  bear  sons  and  daughters, 
That  ye  may  multiply  there  and  not  grow  few. 
Seek  the  peace  of  the  city  whither  I  have  sent  you  into 

captivity : 
Pray  for  it  unto  Jehovah ; 
For  in  its  peace,  ye  shall  have  peace." 

There  was  to  be  no  immediate  return ;  their 
captivity  would  last  long  enough  to  make  it  worth 
their  while  to  build  houses  and  plant  gardens.  For  the 
present  they  were  to  regard  Babylon  as  their  home. 
The  prospect  of  restoration  to  Judah  was  too  distant 
to  make  any   practical  difference   to  their  conduct  of 


134  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

ordinary  business.  The  concluding  command  to  "  seek 
the  peace  of  Babylon  "  is  a  distinct  warning  against 
engaging  in  plots,  which  could  only  ruin  the  con- 
spirators. There  is  an  interesting  difference  between 
these  exhortations  and  those  addressed  by  Paul  to  his 
converts  in  the  first  century.  He  never  counsels  them 
to  marry,  but  rather  recommends  celibacy  as  more 
expedient  for  the  present  necessity.  Apparently  life 
was  more  anxious  and  harassed  for  the  early  Christians 
than  for  the  Jews  in  Babylon.  The  return  to  Canaan 
was  to  these  exiles  what  the  millennium  and  the  Second 
Advent  were  to  the  primitive  Church.  Jeremiah  having 
bidden  his  fellow-countrymen  not  to  be  agitated  by 
supposing  that  this  much-longed  event  might  come 
at  any  moment,  fortifies  their  faith  and  patience  by  a 
promise  that  it  should  not  be  delayed  indefinitely. 

"  When  ye  have  fulfilled  seventy  years  in  Babylon  I  will  visit  you, 
And  will   perform  for   you  My  gracious   promise  to   bring  you 
back  to  this  place." ' 

Seventy  is  obviously  a  round  number.  Moreover 
the  constant  use  of  seven  and  its  multiples  in  sacred 
symbolism  forbids  us  to  understand  the  prophecy 
as  an  exact  chronological  statement. 

We  should  adequately  express  the  prophet's  meaning 
by  translating  *Mn  about  two  generations."  We  need 
not  waste  time  and  trouble  in  discovering  or  inventing 
two  dates  exactly  separated  by  seventy  years,  one  of 
which  will  serve  for  the  beginning  and  the  other  for 
the  end  of  the  Captivity.  The  interval  between  the 
destruction    of  Jerusalem    and    the    Return    was    fifty 

'  Doubts  have  been  expressed  as  to  whether  this  verse  originally 
formed  part  of  Jeremiah's  letter,  or  was  ever  written  by  him ; 
but  in  view  of  his  numerous  references  to  a  coming  restoration 
those  doubts  are  unnecessarv. 


xxix.]       CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  EXILES  135 

years  (b.c.  586 — 536),  but  as  our  passage  refers  more 
immediately  to  the  prospects  of  those  already  in  exile, 
we  should  obtain  an  interval  of  sixty-five  years  from 
the  deportation  of  Jehoiachin  and  his  companions  in 
B.C.  601.  But  there  can  be  no  question  of  approxima- 
tion, however  close.  Either  the  *^  seventy  years " 
merely  stands  for  a  comparatively  long  period,  or  it 
is  exact.  We  do  not  save  the  inspiration  of  a  date 
by  showing  that  it  is  only  five  years  wrong,  and  not 
twenty.  For  an  inspired  date  must  be  absolutely 
accurate  ;  a  mistake  of  a  second  in  such  a  case  would 
be  as  fatal  as  a  mistake  of  a  century. 

Israel's  hope  is  guaranteed  by  God's  self-knowledge 
of  His  gracious  counsel : —  ^     ^ 

"  I  know  the   purposes  which  I  purpose  concerning  you,  is  the 
utterance  of  Jehovah, 
Purposes  of  peace   and    not  of  evil,  to  give   you  hope  for   the 
days  to  come." 

In  the  former  clause  '^  I "  is  emphatic  in  both  places, 
and  the  phrase  is  parallel  to  the  familiar  formula  ''by 
Myself  have  I  sworn,  saith  Jehovah."  The  future  of 
Israel  was  guaranteed  by  the  divine  consistency. 
Jehovah,  to  use  a  colloquial  phrase,  knew  His  own 
mind.  His  everlasting  purpose  for  the  Chosen  People 
could  not  be  set  aside.  "  Did  God  cast  ofi"  His  people  ? 
God  forbid." 

Yet  this  persistent  purpose  is  not  fulfilled  without 
reference  to  character  and  conduct : — 

"  Ye  shall  call  upon  Me,  and  come  and  pray  unto  Me, 

And  I  will  hearken  unto  you. 
Ye  shall  seek  Me,  and  find  Me, 

Because  ye  seek  Me  with  all  your  heart. 
I  will  be  found  of  you — it  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah. 


136  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

I  will  bring  back  your  captivity,  and  will  gather  you  from  all 
nations  and  places  whither  I  have  scattered  you — it  is  the 
utterance  of  Jehovah. 

I  will  bring  you  back  to  this  place  whence  I  sent  you  away  to 
captivity." ' 

As  in  the  previous  chapter,  Jeremiah  concludes  with 
a  personal  judgment  upon  those  prophets  who  had 
been  so  acceptable  to  the  exiles.  If  verse  23  is  to 
be  understood  literally,  Ahab  and  Zedekiah  had  not 
only  spoken  without  authority  in  the  name  of  Jehovah, 
but  had  also  been  guilty  of  gross  immorality.  Their 
punishment  was  to  be  more  terrible  than  that  of 
Hananiah.  They  had  incited  the  exiles  to  revolt  by 
predicting  the  imminent  ruin  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 
Possibly  the  Jewish  king  proposed  to  make  his  own 
peace  by  betraying  his  agents,  after  the  manner  of  our 
own  Elizabeth  and  other  sovereigns. 

They  were  to  be  given  over  to  the  terrible  vengeance 
which  a  Chaldean  king  would  naturally  take  on  such 
offenders,  and  would  be  publicly  roasted  alive,  so  that 
the  malice  of  him  who  desired  to  curse  his  enemy 
might  find  vent  in  such  words  as  : — 

**  Jehovah  make  thee  like  Zedekiah  and  Ahab,  whom 
the  king  of  Babylon  roasted  alive." 

We  are  not  told  whether  this  prophecy  was  fulfilled, 
but  it  is  by  no  means  unlikely.  The  Assyrian  king 
AsSurbanipal  says,  in  one  of  his  inscriptions  concerning 
a  viceroy  of  Babylon  who  had  revolted,  that  Assur  and 
the  other  gods  **  in  the  fierce  burning  fire  they  threw 


'  The  Hebrew  Text  inserts  a  paragraph  (vv.  16-20)  substantially 
identical  with  other  portions  of  the  book,  especially  xxiv.  8-10, 
announcing  the  approaching  ruin  and  captivity  of  Zedekiah  and  the 
Jews  still  remaining  in  Judah.  This  section  is  omitted  by  the  LXX. 
and  breaks  the  obvious  connection  between  verses  15  and  21. 


xxix.]       CORRESPONDENCE    WITH   THE  EXILES  137 

him  and  destroyed  his  Hfe " — possibly  through  the 
agency  of  Assurbanipal's  servants.^  One  of  the  seven 
brethren  who  were  tortured  to  death  in  the  persecu- 
tions of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  is  said  to  have  been 
'^fried  in  the  pan."^  Christian  hagiology  commemorates 
St.  Lawrence  and  many  other  martyrs,  who  suffered 
similar  torments.  Such  punishments  remained  part  of 
criminal  procedure  until  a  comparatively  recent  date ; 
they  are  still  sometimes  inflicted  by  lynch  law  in  the 
United  States,  and  have  been  defended  even  by 
Christian  ministers. 

Jeremiah's  letter  caused  great  excitement  and  indig- 
nation among  the  exiles.  We  have  no  rejoinder  from 
Ahab  and  Zedekiah ;  probably  they  were  not  in  a 
position  to  make  any.  But  Shemaiah  the  Nehelamite 
tried  to  make  trouble  for  Jeremiah  at  Jerusalem.  He, 
in  his  turn,  wrote  letters  to  "all  the  people  at  Jerusalem 
and  to  the  priest  Zephaniah  ben  Maaseiah  and  to  all 
the  priests  "  to  this  effect : — 

"  Jehovah  hath  made  thee  priest  in  the  room  of 
Jehoiada  the  priest,  to  exercise  supervision  over  the 
Temple,  and  to  deal  with  any  mad  fanatic  who  puts 
himself  forward  to  prophesy,  by  placing  him  in  the 
stocks  and  the  collar.  Why  then  hast  thou  not  rebuked 
Jeremiah  of  Anathoth,  who  puts  himself  forward  to 
prophesy  unto  you  ?  Consequently  he  has  sent  unto 
us  at  Babylon  :  It  (your  captivity)  will  be  long  ;  build 
houses  and  dwell  in  them,  plant  gardens  and  eat  the 
fruit  thereof." 

Confidence  in  a  speedy  return  had  already  been 
exalted  into  a  cardinal  article  of  the  exiles'  faith,  and 
Shemaiah  claims  that  any  one  who  denied  this  com- 

*  Smith's  Assurbanipal,  p.  163.  ^  2  Mace.  vii.  5. 


138  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

fortable  doctrine  must  be  ipso  facto  a  dangerous  and 
deluded  fanatic,  needing  to  be  placed  under  strict 
restraint.  This  letter  travelled  to  Jerusalem  with  the 
returning  embassy,  and  was  duly  delivered  to  Zephaniah. 
Zephaniah  is  spoken  of  in  the  historical  section  common 
to  Kings  and  Jeremiah  as  "  the  second  priest,"  ^  Seraiah 
being  the  High  Priest;  like  Pashhur  ben  Immer,  he 
seems  to  have  been  the  governor  of  the  Temple.  He  was 
evidently  well  disposed  to  Jeremiah,  to  whom  Zedekiah 
twice  sent  him  on  important  missions.  On  the  present 
occasion,  instead  of  acting  upon  the  suggestions  made 
by  Shemaiah,  he  read  the  letter  to  Jeremiah,  in  order 
that  the  latter  might  have  an  opportunity  of  dealing 
with  it. 

Jeremiah  was  divinely  instructed  to  reply  to  Shemaiah, 
charging  him,  in  his  turn,  with  being  a  man  who  put 
himself  forward  to  prophesy  without  any  commission 
from  Jehovah,  and  who  thus  deluded  his  hearers  into 
belief  in  falsehoods.  Personal  sentence  is  passed 
upon  him,  as  upon  Hananiah,  Ahab,  and  Zedekiah  ;  no 
son  of  his  shall  be  reckoned  amongst  God's  people  or 
see  the  prosperity  which  they  shall  hereafter  enjoy. 
The  words  are  obscure  :  it  is  said  that  Jehovah  will 
**  visit  Shemaiah  and  his  seed,"  so  that  it  cannot  mean 
that  he  will  be  childless  ;  but  it  is  further  said  that  ''  he 
shall  not  have  a  man  to  abide  amongst  this  people." 
It  is  apparently  a  sentence  of  excommunication  against 
Shemaiah  and  his  family. 

Here  the  episode  abruptly  ends.  We  are  not  told 
whether  the  letter  was  sent,  or  how  it  was  received, 
or  whether  it  was  answered.  We  gather  that,  here 
also,  the  last  word  rested  with  Jeremiah,  and  that  at 

'  Hi.  24 ;  2  Kings  xxv.  iS. 


xxix.]        CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   THE  EXILES  139 

this  point  his  influence  became  dominant  both  at 
Jerusalem  and  at  Babylon,  and  that  King  Zedekiah 
himself  submitted  to  his  guidance. 

Chapters  xxviii.,  xxix.,  deepen  the  impression  made 
by  other  sections  of  Jeremiah's  intolerance  and  personal 
bitterness  towards  his  opponents.  He  seems  to  speak 
of  the  roasting  alive  of  the  prophets  at  Babylon  with 
something  like  grim  satisfaction,  and  we  are  tempted 
to  think  of  Torquemada  and  Bishop  Bonner.  But  we 
must  remember  that  the  stake,  as  we  have  already  said, 
has  scarcely  yet  ceased  to  be  an  ordinary  criminal 
punishment,  and  that,  after  centuries  of  Christianity, 
More  and  Cranmer,  Luther  and  Calvin,  had  hardly 
any  more  tenderness  for  their  ecclesiastical  opponents 
than  Jeremiah. 

Indeed  the  Church  is  only  beginning  to  be  ashamed 
of  the  complacency  with  which  she  has  contemplated 
the  fiery  torments  of  hell  as  the  eternal  destiny  of 
unrepentant  sinners.  One  of  the  most  tolerant  and 
catholic  of  our  religious  teachers  has  written :  '*  If  the 
unlucky  malefactor,  who  in  mere  brutality  of  ignorance 
or  narrowness  of  nature  or  of  culture  has  wronged  his 
neighbour,  excite  our  anger,  how  much  deeper  should 
be  our  indignation  when  intellect  and  eloquence  are 
abused  to  selfish  purposes,  when  studious  leisure  and 
learning  and  thought  turn  traitors  to  the  cause  of 
human  well-being  and  the  wells  of  a  nation's  moral 
hfe  are  poisoned."  ^  The  deduction  is  obvious  :  society 
feels  constrained  to  hang  or  burn  '' the  unlucky  male- 
factor "  ;  consequently  such  punishments  are,  if  any- 
thing, too  merciful  for  the  false  prophet.  Moreover 
the  teaching  which  Jeremiah  denounced  was  no  mere 

'  Ecce  Hoyno,  xxi. 


I40  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH  ' 

dogmatism  about  abstruse  philosophical  and  theologi- 
cal abstractions.  Like  the  Jesuit  propaganda  under 
Elizabeth,  it  was  more  immediately  concerned  with 
politics  than  with  religion.  We  are  bound  to  be 
indignant  with  a  man,  gifted  in  exploiting  the  emotions 
of  his  docile  audience,  who  wins  the  confidence  and 
arouses  the  enthusiasm  of  his  hearers,  only  to  entice 
them  into  hopeless  and  foolhardy  ventures. 

And  yet  we  are  brought  back  to  the  old  difficulty, 
how  are  we  to  know  the  false  prophet  ?  He  has 
neither  horns  nor  hoofs,  his  tie  may  be  as  white  and 
his  coat  as  long  as  those  of  the  true  messenger  of  God. 
Again,  Jeremiah's  method  affords  us  some  practical 
guidance.  He  does  not  himself  order  and  superintend 
the  punishment  of  false  prophets  ;  he  merely  announces 
a  divine  judgment,  which  Jehovah  Himself  is  to  execute. 
He  does  not  condemn  men  by  the  code  of  any  Church, 
but  each  sentence  is  a  direct  and  special  revelation 
from  Jehovah.  How  many  sentences  would  have  been 
passed  upon  heretics,  if  their  accusers  and  judges  had 
waited  for  a  similar  sanction  ? 


CHAPTER   XI 

A   BROKEN  COVENANT 

xxi.  i-io,  xxxiv.,  xxxvii.  i-io. 

"All  the  princes  and  people  .  .  .  changed  their  minds  and  reduced 
to  bondage  again  all  the  slaves  whom  they  had  set  free." — Jer.  xxxiv. 

lO,   11. 

IN  our  previous  chapter  we  saw  that,  at  the  point 
where  the  fragmentary  record  of  the  abortive  con- 
spiracy in  the  fourth  year  of  Zedekiah  came  to  an 
abrupt  conclusion,  Jeremiah  seemed  to  have  regained 
the  ascendency  he  enjoyed  under  Josiah.  The  Jewish 
government  had  rehnquished  their  schemes  of  rebelHon 
and  acquiesced  once  more  in  the  supremacy  of  Babylon. 
We  may  possibly  gather  from  a  later  chapter^  that 
Zedekiah  himself  paid  a  visit  to  Nebuchadnezzar  to 
assure  him  of  his  loyalty.  If  so,  the  embassy  of  Elasah 
ben  Shaphan  and  Gemariah  ben  Hilkiah  was  intended 
to  assure  a  favourable  reception  for  their  master. 

The  history  of  the  next  few  years  is  lost  in  obscurity, 
but  when  the  curtain  again  rises  everything  is  changed 
and  Judah  is  once  more  in  revolt  against  the  Chaldeans. 
No  doubt  one  cause  of  this  fresh  change  of  poHcy  was 
the  renewed  activity  of  Egypt.     In  the  account  of  the 

*  li.  59,  Hebrew  Text.  According  to  the  LXX.,  Zedekiah  sent 
another  embassy  and  did  not  go  himself  to  Babylon.  The  section  is 
apparently  a  late  addition. 

141 


r42  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


conspiracy  in  Zedekiah's  fourth  year,  there  is  a  signifi- 
cant absence  of  any  reference  to  Egypt.  Jeremiah 
succeeded  in  bafQing  his  opponents  partly  because 
their  fears  of  Babylon  were  not  quieted  by  any  assur- 
ance of  Egyptian  support.  Now  there  seemed  a  better 
prospect  of  a  successful  insurrection. 

About  the  seventh  year  of  Zedekiah,  Psammetichus  II. 
of  Egypt  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Pharaoh  Hophra, 
the  son  of  Josiah's  conqueror,  Pharaoh  Necho.  When 
Hophra — the  Apries  of  Herodotus— had  completed  the 
reconquest  of  Ethiopia,  he  made  a  fresh  attempt  to 
carry  out  his  father's  policy  and  to  re-establish  the 
ancient  Egyptian  supremacy  in  Western  Asia ;  and, 
as  of  old,  Egypt  began  by  tampering  with  the  allegiance 
of  the  Syrian  vassals  of  Babylon.  According  to 
Ezekiel,^  Zedekiah  took  the  initiative:  ''he  rebelled 
against  him  (Nebuchadnezzar)  by  sending  his  ambassa- 
dors into  Egypt,  that  they  might  give  him  horses  and 
much  people." 

The  knowledge  that  an  able  and  victorious  general 
was  seated  on  the  Egyptian  throne,  along  with  the 
secret  intrigues  of  his  agents  and  partisans,  was  too 
much  for  Zedekiah's  discretion.  Jeremiah's  advice  was 
disregarded.  The  king  surrendered  himself  to  the 
guidance — we  might  almost  say,  the  control — of  the 
Egyptian  party  in  Jerusalem ;  he  violated  his  oath 
of  allegiance  to  his  suzerain,  and  the  frail  and  battered 
ship  of  state  was  once  more  embarked  on  the  stormy 
waters  of  rebellion.  Nebuchadnezzar  promptly  pre- 
pared to  grapple  with  the  reviving  strength  of  Egypt 
in  a  renewed  contest  for  the  lordship  of  Syria.  Probably 
Egypt  and   Judah  had  other  allies,  but  they  are  not 

'  xvii.  15. 


xxi.  i-io,xxxiv.,  xxxvii.  i-io.]   A    BROKEN  COVENANT  143 

expressly  mentioned.  A  little  later  Tyre  was  besieged 
by  Nebuchadnezzar ;  but  as  Ezekiel  ^  represents  Tyre 
as  exulting  over  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  she  can  hardly 
have  been  a  benevolent  neutral,  much  less  a  faithful 
ally.  Moreover,  when  Nebuchadnezzar  began  his  march 
into  Syria,  he  hesitated  whether  he  should  first  attack 
Jerusalem  or  Rabbath  Ammon  : — 

"  The  king  of  Babylon  stood  at  the  parting  of  the 
way,  ...  to  use  divination :  he  shook  the  arrows  to 
and  fro,  he  consulted  the  teraphim,  he  looked  in  the 
liver."  2 

Later  on  Baalis,  king  of  Ammon,  received  the  Jewish 
refugees  and  supported  those  who  were  most  irrecon- 
cilable in  their  hostility  to  Nebuchadnezzar.  Never- 
theless the  Ammonites  were  denounced  by  Jeremiah 
for  occupying  the  territory  of  Gad,  and  by  Ezekiel  ^  for 
sharing  the  exultation  of  Tyre  over  the  ruin  of  Judah. 
Probably  Baalis  played  a  double  part.  He  may  have 
promised  support  to  Zedekiah,  and  then  purchased  his 
own  pardon  by  betraying  his  ally. 

Nevertheless  the  hearty  support  of  Egypt  was  worth 
more  than  the  alliance  of  any  number  of  the  petty 
neighbouring  states,  and  Nebuchadnezzar  levied  a  great 
army  to  meet  this  ancient  and  formidable  enemy  of 
Assyria  and  Babylon.  He  marched  into  Judah  with 
"  all  his  army,  and  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  that 
were  under  his  dominion,  and  all  the  peoples,"  and 
'*  fought  against  Jerusalem  and  all  the  cities  thereof"  * 

At  the  beginning  of  the  siege  Zedekiah's  heart  began 
to  fail  him.  The  course  of  events  seemed  to  confirm 
Jeremiah's  threats,  and  the  king,  with  pathetic  incon- 

'  xxvi.  2,  ^  Ezek.  xxi.  21.  ^  xxv.  I-7. 

*  xxi.  i-io.  The  exact  date  of  this  section  is  not  given,  but  it  is 
closely  parallel  to  xxxiv.  1-7,  and  seems  to  belong  to  the  same  period. 


144  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

sistency,  sought  to  be  reassured  by  the  prophet 
himself.  He  sent  Pashhur  ben  Malchiah  and  Zephaniah 
ben  Maaseiah  to  Jeremiah  with  the  message  : — 

"  Inquire,  I  pray  thee,  of  Jehovah  for  us,  for  Nebu- 
chadnezzar king  of  Babylon  maketh  war  against  us  : 
peradventure  Jehovah  will  deal  with  us  according  to 
all  His  wondrous  works,  that  he  may  go  up  from 
us." 

The  memories  of  the  great  deliverance  from  Senna- 
cherib were  fresh  and  vivid  in  men's  minds.  Isaiah's 
denunciations  had  been  as  uncompromising  as  Jere- 
miah's, and  yet  Hezekiah  had  been  spared.  "  Per- 
adventure," thought  his  anxious  descendant,  ''the 
prophet  may  yet  be  charged  with  gracious  messages 
that  Jehovah  repents  Him  of  the  evil  and  will  even 
now  rescue  His  Holy  City."  But  the  timid  appeal  only 
called  forth  a  yet  sterner  sentence  of  doom.  Formid- 
able as  were  the  enemies  against  whom  Zedekiah 
craved  protection,  they  were  to  be  reinforced  by  more 
terrible  allies  ;  man  and  beast  should  die  of  a  great  pestil- 
ence, and  Jehovah  Himself  should  be  their  enemy  : — 

"I  will  turn  back  the  weapons  of  war  that  are  in 
your  hands,  wherewith  ye  fight  against  the  king  of 
Babylon  and  the  Chaldeans.  ...  I  Myself  will  fight 
against  you  with  an  outstretched  hand  and  a  strong 
arm,  in  anger  and  fury  and  great  wrath." 

The  city  should  be  taken  and  burnt  with  fire,  and 
the  king  and  all  others  who  survived  should  be  carried 
away  captive.  Only  on  one  condition  might  better 
terms  be  obtained  : — 

"  Behold,  I  set  before  you  the  way  of  life  and  the 
way  of  death.  He  that  abideth  in  this  city  shall  die 
by  the  sword,  the  famine,  and  the  pestilence ;  but  he 
that  goeth  out,  and  falleth  to  the  besieging  Chaldeans, 


xxi.  i-io,xxxiv.,  xxxvii.  i-io.]   A   BROKEN  COVENANT  145 

shall   live,    and    his    life    shall    be    unto    him    for    a 
prey."  ^ 

On  another  occasion  Zephaniah  ben  Maaseiah  with 
a  certain  Tehucal  ben  Shelemiah  was  sent  by  the  king 
to  the  prophet  with  the  entreaty,  "  Pray  now  unto 
Jehovah  our  God  for  us."  We  are  not  told  the  sequel 
to  this  mission,  but  it  is  probably  represented  by  the 
opening  verses  of  chapter  xxxiv.  This  section  has 
the  direct  and  personal  note  which  characterises  the 
dealings  of  Hebrew  prophets  with  their  sovereigns. 
Doubtless  the  partisans  of  Egypt  had  had  a  severe 
struggle  with  Jeremiah  before  they  captured  the  ear 
of  the  Jewish  king,  and  Zedekiah  was  possessed  to  the 
very  last  with  a  half-superstitious  anxiety  to  keep  on 
good  terms  with  the  prophet.  Jehovah's  ^'iron  pillar 
and  brasen  wall "  would  make  no  concession  to  these 
royal  blandishments  :  his  message  had  been  rejected, 
his  Master  had  been  slighted  and  defied,  the  Chosen 
People  and  the  Holy  City  were  being  betrayed  to  their 
ruin  ;  Jeremiah  would  not  refrain  from  denouncing  this 
iniquity  because  the  king  who  had  sanctioned  it  tried 
to  flatter  his  vanity  by  sending  deferential  deputations 
of  important  notables.      This  is  the  Divine  sentence  : — 

**  I  will  give  this  city  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Babylon, 
And  he  shall  burn  it  with  fire. 
Thou  shalt  not  escape  out  of  his  hand  ; 
Thou  shalt  assuredly  be  taken  prisoner; 
Thou  shalt  be  delivered  into  his  hand. 
Thou  shalt  see  the  king  of  Babylon,  face  to  face; 
He  shall  speak  to  thee,  mouth  to  mouth. 
And  thou  shalt  go  to  Babylon." 

Yet    there   should    be  one  doubtful  mitigation   of  his 
punishment : — 

'  xxi.  I- 10. 

10 


146  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

"  Thou  shalt  not  die  by  the  sword ; 
Thou  shalt  die  in  peace  : 
With  the  burnings  of  thy  fathers,  the  former  kings  that  were 

before  thee, 
So  shall  they  make  a  burning  for  thee  ; 
And  they  shall  lament  thee,  saying,  Alas  lord  ! 
For  it  is  I  that  have  spoken  the  word — it  is  the  utterance  of 

Jehovah."' 

King  and  people  were  not  proof  against  the  combined 
terrors  of  the  prophetic  rebukes  and  the  besieging 
enemy.  Jeremiah  regained  his  influence,  and  Jerusalem 
gave  an  earnest  of  the  sincerity  of  her  repentance  by 
entering  into  a  covenant  for  the  emancipation  of  all 
Hebrew  slaves.  Deuteronomy  had  re-enacted  the 
ancient  law  that  their  bondage  should  terminate  at  the 
end  of  six  years/  but  this  had  not  been  observed  : 
"  Your  fathers  hearkened  not  unto  Me,  neither  inclined 
their  ear."  ^  A  large  proportion  of  those  then  in  slavery 
must  have  served  more  than  six  3^ears ;  ^  and  partly 
because  of  the  difficulty  of  discrimination  at  such  a 
crisis,  partly  by  way  of  atonement,  the  Jews  under- 
took to  liberate  all  their  slaves.  This  solemn  repara- 
tion was  made  because  the  limitation  of  servitude 
was  part  of  the  national  Torah,  "  the  covenant  that 
Jehovah  made  with  their  fathers  in  the  day  that  He 
brought  them  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt " — 
i.e.  the  Deuteronomic  Code.  Hence  it  implied  the 
renewed  recognition  of  Deuteronomy,  and  the  restora- 
tion of  the  ecclesiastical  order  established  by  Josiah's 
reforms. 

Even  Josiah's  methods  were  imitated.  He  had 
assembled  the  people  at  the  Temple  and   made  them 

*  Deut.  XV.  12.     Cf.  Exod.  xxi.  2,  xxiii.  10. 


xxi.  i-io,xxxiv.,xxxvii.  i-io]   A    BROKEN  COVENANT  lA'j 

enter  into  "  a  covenant  before  Jehovah,  to  walk  after 
Jehovah,  to  keep  His  commandments  and  testimonies 
and  statutes  with  all  their  heart  and  soul,  to  perform 
the  words  of  this  covenant  that  were  written  in  this 
book.  And  all  the  people  entered  into  the  covenant."^ 
So  now  Zedekiah  in  turn  caused  the  people  to  make 
a  covenant  before  Jehovah,  "in  the  house  which  was 
called  by  His  name,"  ^  "  that  every  one  should  release 
his  Hebrew  slaves,  male  and  female,  and  that  no  one 
should  enslave  a  brother  Jew."  ^  A  further  sanction 
had  been  given  to  this  vow  by  the  observance  of  an 
ancient  and  significant  rite.  When  Jehovah  promised 
to  Abraham  a  seed  countless  as  the  stars  of  heaven, 
He  condescended  to  ratify  His  promise  by  causing  the 
symbols  of  His  presence — a  smoking  furnace  and  a 
burning  lamp — to  pass  between  the  divided  halves  of 
a  heifer,  a  she-goat,  a  ram,  and  between  a  turtle-dove 
and  a  young  pigeon.*  Now,  in  Hke  manner,  a  calf  was 
cut  in  twain,  the  two  halves  laid  opposite  each  other, 
and  "  the  princes  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  the  eunuchs, 
the  priests,  and  all  the  people  of  the  land,  .  .  .  passed 
between  the  parts  of  the  calf."^  Similarly,  after  the 
death  of  Alexander  the  Great,  the  contending  factions 
in  the  Macedonian  army  ratified  a  compromise  by 
passing  between  the  two  halves  of  a  dog.  Such 
s3^mbols  spoke  for  themselves  :  those  who  used  them 
laid  themselves  under  a  curse  ;  they  prayed  that  if  they 
violated  the  covenant  they  might  be  slain  and  mutilated 
like  the  divided  animals. 

This  covenant  was  forthwith  carried  into  effect,  the 
princes   and   people    liberating    their    Hebrew    slaves 


Kings  xxiii.  3.  '  xxxiv.  9.  ^  xxxiv.  19. 


-  xxxiv.  15.  *  Gen 


XV. 


148  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


according  to  their  vow.  We  cannot,  however,  compare 
this  event  with  the  aboHtion  of  slavery  in  British 
colonies  or  with  Abraham  Lincoln's  Decree  of  Emancipa- 
tion. The  scale  is  altogether  different :  Hebrew  bondage 
had  no  horrors  to  compare  with  those  of  the  American 
plantations  ;  and  moreover,  even  at  the  moment,  the 
practical  results  cannot  have  been  great.  Shut  up  in 
a  beleaguered  city,  harassed  by  the  miseries  and 
terrors  of  a  siege,  the  freedmen  would  see  little  to 
rejoice  over  in  their  new-found  freedom.  Unless  their 
friends  were  in  Jerusalem  they  could  not  rejoin  them, 
and  in  most  cases  they  could  only  obtain  sustenance 
by  remaining  in  the  households  of  their  former  masters, 
or  by  serving  in  the  defending  army.  Probably  this 
special  ordinance  of  Deuteronomy  was  selected  as  the 
subject  of  a  solemn  covenant,  because  it  not  only 
afforded  an  opportunity  of  atoning  for  past  sin,  but 
also  provided  the  means  of  strengthening  the  national 
defence.  Such  expedients  were  common  in  ancient 
states  in  moments  of  extreme  peril. 

In  view  of  Jeremiah's  persistent  efforts,  both  before 
and  after  this  incident,  to  make  his  countrymen  loyally 
accept  the  Chaldean  supremacy,  we  cannot  doubt 
that  he  hoped  to  make  terms  between  Zedekiah  and 
Nebuchadnezzar.  Apparently  no  tidings  of  Pharaoh 
Hophra's  advance  had  reached  Jerusalem;  and  the 
non-appearance  of  his  '*  horses  and  much  people  "  had 
discredited  the  Egyptian  party,  and  enabled  Jeremiah 
to  overthrow  their  influence  with  the  king  and  people. 
Egypt,  after  all  her  promises,  had  once  more  proved 
herself  a  broken  reed ;  there  was  nothing  left  but  to 
throw  themselves  on  Nebuchadnezzar's  mercy. 

But  the  .situation  was  once  more  entirely  changed 
by-the  n^W3  that  Pharaoh  Hophra  had  come  forth  out 


xxi.  i-io,xxxiv.,  xxxvii.  i-io.]   A   BROKEN  COVENANT  149 

of  Egypt  **  with  a  mighty  army  and  a  great  company."  ^ 
The  sentinels  on  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  saw  the 
besiegers  break  up  their  encampment,  and  march  away 
to  meet  the  relieving  army.  All  thought  of  submitting 
to  Babylon  was  given  up.  Indeed,  if  Pharaoh  Hophra 
were  to  be  victorious,  the  Jews  must  of  necessity  accept 
his  supremacy.  Meanwhile  they  revelled  in  their 
respite  from  present  distress  and  imminent  danger. 
Surely  the  new  covenant  was  bearing  fruit.  Jehovah 
had  been  propitiated  by  their  promise  to  observe  the 
Torah;  Pharaoh  was  the  instrument  by  which  God 
would  deliver  His  people ;  or  even  if  the  Egyptians 
were  defeated,  the  Divine  resources  were  not  exhausted. 
When  Tirhakah  advanced  to  the  relief  of  Hezekiah, 
he  was  defeated  at  Eltekeh,  yet  Sennacherib  had 
returned  home  bafQed  and  disgraced.  Naturally  the 
partisans  of  Egypt,  the  opponents  of  Jeremiah,  re- 
covered their  control  of  the  king  and  the  government. 
The  king  sent,  perhaps  at  the  first  news  of  the 
Egyptian  advance,  to  inquire  of  Jeremiah  concerning 
their  prospects  of  success.  What  seemed  to  every  one 
else  a  Divine  deliverance  was  to  him  a  national  mis- 
fortune ;  the  hopes  he  had  once  more  indulged  of 
averting  the  ruin  of  Judah  were  again  dashed  to  the 
ground.     His  answer  is  bitter  and  gloomy : — 

"  Behold,  Pharaoh's  array,  which  is  come  forth  to  help  you, 
Shall  return  to  Egypt  into  their  own  land. 
The  Chaldeans  shall  come  again,  and  fight  against  this  city; 
They  shall  take  it,  and  burn  it  with  fire. 
Thus  saith  Jehovah : 
Do  not  deceive  yourselves,  saying. 
The  Chaldeans  shall  surely  depart  from  us : 


*  Ezek.  xvii.  17. 


I50  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

They  shall  not  depart. 

Though   ye   had    smitten    the    whole    army   of   the   Chaldeans 

that  fight  against  you, 
And  there  remained  none  but  wounded  men  among  them, 
Yet  should  they  rise  up  every  man  in  his  tent, 
And  burn  this  city  with  fire." 

Jeremiah's  protest  was  unavailing,  and  only  confirmed 
the   king   and    princes    in    their   adherence    to   Egypt. 
Moreover  Jeremiah  had   now  formally  disclaimed  any 
sympathy  with  this  great  deliverance,  which  Pharaoh 
— and   presumably  Jehovah — had  wrought  for  Judah. 
Hence  it  was  clear  that  the  people  did  not  owe  this 
blessing  to  the  covenant  to  which  they  had  submitted 
themselves  by  Jeremiah's  guidance.     As  at    Megiddo, 
Jehovah    had    shown    once   more    that    He   was    with 
Pharaoh  and  against  Jeremiah.     Probably  they  would 
best  please   God  by  renouncing  Jeremiah  and  all   his 
works — the  covenant  included.     Moreover  they  could 
take  back  their  slaves  with  a  clear  conscience,  to  their 
own  great  comfort  and  satisfaction;     True,  they  had 
sworn  in  the  Temple  with  solemn  and   striking  cere- 
monies,   but    then   Jehovah    Himself    had    manifestly 
released  them  from  their  oath.     **  All  the  princes  and 
people  changed  their  mind,  and   reduced   to  bondage 
again  all  the  slaves  whom  they  had   set  free."     The 
freedmen  had  been  rejoicing  with  their  former  masters 
in  the  prospect   of  national    dehverance ;  the   date  of 
their  emancipation  was  to  mark  the  beginning  of  a  new 
era  of  Jewish    happiness  and  prosperity.     When   the 
siege  was  raised  and    the  Chaldeans  driven  away,  they 
could  use  their  freedom  in  rebuilding  the  ruined  cities 
and  cultivating  the  wasted  lands.     To  all  such  dreams 
there  came  a  sudden  and  rough  awakening  :  they  were 
dragged    back   to   their   former    hopeless   bondage — a 


xxi.  i-io,  xxxiv.,  xxxvii.  i-io,]   A   BROKEN  COVENANT  151 

happy  augury  for  the  new  dispensation  of  Divine  pro- 
tection and  blessing  I 

Jeremiah  turned  upon  them  in  fierce  wrath,  Hke  that 
of  EKjah  against  Ahab  when  he  met  him  taking  posses- 
sion of  Naboth's  vineyard.  They  had  profaned  the 
name  of  Jehovah,  and — 

"  Therefore  thus  saith  Jehovah  : 
Ye  have  not  hearkened  unto  Me  to  proclaim  a  release  every  one 

to  his  brother  and  his  neighbour  : 
Behold,    I   proclaim    a   release   for    you — it   is    the    utterance    of 

Jehovah — unto  the  sword,  the  pestilence,  and  the  famine ; 
And  I  will  make  you  a   terror  among  all   the   kingdoms  of  the 

earth." 

The  prophet  plays  upon  the  word  '*  release "  with 
grim  irony.  The  Jews  had  repudiated  the  ''  release  " 
which  they  had  promised  under  solemn  oath  to  their 
brethren,  but  Jehovah  would  not  allow  them  to  be  so 
easily  quit  of  their  covenant.  There  should  be  a 
'*  release "  after  all,  and  they  themselves  should  have 
the  benefit  of  it — a  "  release  "  from  happiness  and 
prosperity,  from  the  sacred  bounds  of  the  Temple, 
the  Holy  City,  and  the  Land  of  Promise — a  *'  release  " 
unto  "  the  sword,  the  pestilence,  and  the  famine." 

"  I  will  give  the  men  that  have  transgressed  My  covenant  into  the 

hands  of  their  enemies.  .  .  . 
Their   dead  bodies   shall  be  meat  for   the   fowls  of  heaven    and 

for  the  beasts  of  the  earth. 
Zedekiah   king   of    Judah   and    his   princes   will   I    give   into   the 

hand  of  .  .  .  the  host  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  which  are  gone 

up  from  you. 
Behold,  I  will  command — it  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah — and  will 

bring  them  back  unto  this  city : 
They  shall  fight  against  it,  and  take  it,  and  burn  it  with  fire. 
I  will  lay  the  cities  of  Judah  waste,  without  inhabitant." 

Another   broken   covenant   was  added   to   the   list   of 


152  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Judah's  sins,  another  promise  of  amendment  speedily 
lost  in  disappointment  and  condemnation.  Jeremiah 
might  well  say  with  his  favourite  Hosea  : — 

"  O  Judah,  what  shall  I  do  unto  thee  ? 
Your  goodness  is  as  a  morning  cloud, 
And  as  the  dew  that  goeth  early  away."' 

This  incident  has  many  morals ;  one  of  the  most 
obvious  is  the  futility  of  the  most  stringent  oaths  and 
the  most  solemn  symbolic  ritual.  Whatever  influence 
oaths  may  have  in  causing  a  would-be  liar  to  speak 
the  truth,  they  are  very  poor  guarantees  for  the 
performance  of  contracts.  William  the  Conqueror 
profited  little  by  Harold's  oath  to  help  him  to  the 
crown  of  England,  though  it  was  sworn  over  the  relics 
of  holy  saints.  Wulfnoth's  whisper  in  Tennyson's 
drama — 

"  Swear  thou  to-day,  to-morrow  is  thine  own  " — 

states  the  principle  on  which  many  oaths  have  been 
taken.  The  famous  '*  blush  of  Sigismund  "  over  the 
violation  of  his  safe-conduct  to  Huss  was  rather  a 
token  of  unusual  sensitiveness  than  a  confession  of 
exceptional  guilt.  The  Christian  Church  has  exalted 
perfidy  into  a  sacred  obligation.     As  Milman  says^: — 

*'  The  fatal  doctrine,  confirmed  by  long  usage,  by 
the  decrees  of  Pontiffs,  by  the  assent  of  all  ecclesiastics, 
and  the  acquiescence  of  the  Christian  world,  that  no 
promise,  no  oath,  was  binding  to  a  heretic,  had  hardly 
been  questioned,  never  repudiated." 

At  first  sight  an  oath  seems  to  give  firm  assurance 
to  a  promise ;  what  was  merely  a  promise  to  man  is 

'  Hosea  vi.  4. 

*  Milman's  Latin  Christianity,  viii.  255. 


xxi.  i-io,  xxxiv.,  xxxvii.  i-io.]    A    BROKEN  COVENANT  153 

made  into  a  promise  to  God.  What  can  be  more 
binding  upon  the  conscience  than  a  promise  to  God  ? 
True  ;  but  He  to  whom  the  promise  is  made  may 
always  release  from  its  performance.  To  persist  in 
what  God  neither  requires  nor  desires  because  of  a 
promise  to  God  seems  absurd  and  even  wicked.  It 
has  been  said  that  men  ''  have  a  way  of  calling  every- 
thing they  want  to  do  a  dispensation  of  Providence." 
Similarly,  there  are  many  ways  by  which  a  man  may 
persuade  himself  that  God  has  cancelled  his  vows, 
especially  if  he  belongs  to  an  infallible  Church  with  a 
Divine  commission  to  grant  dispensations.  No  doubt 
these  Jewish  slaveholders  had  full  sacerdotal  absolution 
from  their  pledge.  The  priests  had  slaves  of  their 
own.  Failing  ecclesiastical  aid,  Satan  himself  will  play 
the  casuist — it  is  one  of  his  favourite  parts — and  will 
find  the  traitor  full  justification  for  breaking  the  most 
solemn  contract  with  Heaven.  If  a  man's  whole  soul 
and  purpose  go  with  his  promise,  oaths  are  superfluous  ; 
otherwise,  they  are  useless. 

However,  the  main  lesson  of  the  incident  lies  in  its 
added  testimony  to  the  supreme  importance  which  the 
prophets  attached  to  social  righteousness.  When 
Jeremiah  wished  to  knit  together  again  the  bonds  of 
fellowship  between  Judah  and  its  God,  he  did  not  make 
them  enter  into  a  covenant  to  observe  ritual  or  to 
cultivate  pious  sentiments,  but  to  release  their  slaves. 
It  has  been  said  that  a  gentleman  may  be  known  by 
the  way  in  which  he  treats  his  servants ;  a  man's 
religion  is  better  tested  by  his  behaviour  to  his  helpless 
dependents  than  by  his  attendance  on  the  means  of 
grace  or  his  predilection  for  pious  conversation.  If  we 
were  right  in  supposing  that  the  government  supported 
Jeremiah  because  the  act  of  emancipation  would  furnish 


154  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

recruits  to  man  the  walls,  this  illustrates  the  ultimate 
dependence  of  society  upon  the  working  classes.  In 
emergencies,  desperate  efforts  are  made  to  coerce  or 
cajole  them  into  supporting  governments  by  which  they 
have  been  neglected  or  oppressed.  The  sequel  to  this 
covenant  shows  how  barren  and  transient  are  conces- 
sions begotten  by  the  terror  of  imminent  ruin.  The 
social  covenant  between  all  classes  of  the  community 
needs  to  be  woven  strand  by  strand  through  long  years 
of  mutual  helpfulness  and  goodwill,  of  peace  and 
prosperity,  if  it  is  to  endure  the  strain  of  national  peril 
and  disaster. 


CHAPTER   XII 

JEREMIAH'S  IMPRISONMENT 

xxxvii.  II-2I,  xxxviii.,  xxxix.  15-18, 

"Jeremiah   abode  in  the    court   of  the  guard   until  the  day  that 
Jerusalem  was  taken." — Jer.  xxxviii.  28. 

"  T  T  THEN  the  Chaldean  army  was  broken  up  from 
V  V  Jerusalem  for  fear  of  Pharaoh's  army,  Jere- 
miah went  forth  out  of  Jerusalem  to  go  into  the  land 
of  Benjamin "  to  transact  certain  family  business  at 
Anathoth.^ 

He  had  announced  that  all  who  remained  in  the 
city  should  perish,  and  that  only  those  who  deserted 
to  the  Chaldeans  should  escape.  In  these  troubled 
times  all  w^ho  sought  to  enter  or  leave  Jerusalem  were 
subjected  to  close  scrutiny,  and  when  Jeremiah  wished 
to  pass  through  the  gate  of  Benjamin  he  was  stopped 
by  the  officer  in  charge — Irijah  ben  -  Shelemiah  ben 
Hananiah — and  accused  of  being  about  to  practise 
himself  what  he  had  preached  to  the  people  :  '^  Thou 
fallest  away  to  the  Chaldeans."  The  suspicion  was 
natural  enough ;  for,  although  the  Chaldeans  had  raised 
the  siege  and  marched  away  to  the  south-west,  while 
the  gate  of  Benjamin  was  on  the  north  of  the  city, 
Irijah  might  reasonably  suppose  that  they  had  left 
detachments    in    the    neighbourhood,    and    that    this 

'  Cf.  xxxii.  6-8. 
155 


156  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

zealous  advocate  of  submission  to  Babylon  had  special 
information  on  the  subject.  Jeremiah  indeed  had  the 
strongest  motives  for  seeking  safety  in  flight.  The 
party  whom  he  had  consistently  denounced  had  full 
control  of  the  government,  and  even  if  they  spared  him 
for  the  present  any  decisive  victory  over  the  enemy 
would  be  the  signal  for  his  execution.  When  once 
Pharaoh  Hophra  was  in  full  march  upon  Jerusalem  at 
the  head  of  a  victorious  army,  his  friends  would  show 
no  mercy  to  Jeremiah.  Probably  Irijah  was  eager  to 
believe  in  the  prophet's  treachery,  and  ready  to  snatch 
at  any  pretext  for  arresting  him.  The  name  of  the 
captain's  grandfather — Hananiah — is  too  common  to 
suggest  any  connection  with  the  prophet  who  withstood 
Jeremiah ;  but  we  may  be  sure  that  at  this  crisis  the 
gates  were  in  charge  of  trusty  adherents  of  the  princes 
of  the  Egyptian  party.  Jeremiah  would  be  suspected 
and  detested  by  such  men  as  these.  His  vehement 
denial  of  the  charge  was  received  with  real  or  feigned 
increduhty ;  Irijah  **  hearkened  not  unto  him." 

The  arrest  took  place  '*in  the  midst  of  the  people."^ 
The  gate  was  crowded  with  other  Jews  hurrying  out 
of  Jerusalem  :  citizens  eager  to  breathe  more  freely 
after  being  cooped  up  in  the  overcrowded  city ;  country- 
men anxious  to  find  out  what  their  farms  and  home- 
steads had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  invaders ;  not 
a  few,  perhaps,  bound  on  the  very  errand  of  which 
Jeremiah  was  accused,  friends  of  Babylon,  convinced 
that  Nebuchadnezzar  would  ultimately  triumph,  and 
hoping  to  find  favour  and  security  in  his  camp.  Critical 
events  of  Jeremiah's  life  had  often  been  transacted 
before  a  great  assembly ;  for  instance,  his  own  address 

*  xxxvii.  12;  so  R.V.,  Streane  (Camb.  Bible),  Kautzsch,  etc. 


xxxvii.ff.]  JEREMIAH'S  IMPRISONMENT  157 

and  trial  in  the  Temple,  and  the  reading  of  the  roll. 
He  knew  the  practical  value  of  a  dramatic  situation. 
This  time  he  had  sought  the  crowd,  rather  to  avoid 
than  attract  attention  ;  but  when  he  was  challenged  by 
Irijah,  the  accusation  and  denial  must  have  been  heard 
by  all  around.  The  soldiers  of  the  guard,  necessarily 
hostile  to  the  man  who  had  counselled  submission, 
gathered  round  to  secure  their  prisoner  ;  for  a  time 
the  gate  was  blocked  by  the  guards  and  spectators. 
The  latter  do  not  seem  to  have  interfered.  Formerly 
the  priests  and  prophets  and  all  the  people  had  laid 
hold  on  Jeremiah,  and  afterwards  all  the  people  had 
acquitted  him  by  acclamation.  Now  his  enemies  were 
content  to  leave  him  in  the  hands  of  the  soldiers,  and 
his  friends,  if  he  had  any,  were  afraid  to  attempt  a 
rescue.  Moreover  men's  minds  were  not  at  leisure 
and  craving  for  new  excitement,  as  at  Temple  festivals ; 
they  were  preoccupied,  and  eager  to  get  out  of  the 
city.  While  the  news  quickly  spread  that  Jeremiah 
had  been  arrested  as  he  was  trying  to  desert,  his 
guards  cleared  a  way  through  the  crowd,  and  brought 
the  prisoner  before  the  princes.  The  latter  seem  to 
have  acted  as  a  Committee  of  National  Defence  ;  they 
may  either  have  been  sitting  at  the  time,  or  a  meeting, 
as  on  a  previous  occasion,^  may  have  been  called  when 
it  was  known  that  Jeremiah  had  been  arrested.  Among 
them  were  probably  those  enumerated  later  on :  ^ 
Shephatiah  ben  Mattan,  Gedaliah  ben  Pashhur,  Jucal 
ben  Shelemiah,  and  Pashhur  ben  Malchiah.  Shephatiah 
and  Gedaliah  are  named  only  here ;  possibly  Gedaliah's 
father  was  Pashhur  ben  Immer,  who  beat  Jeremiah  and 
put  him  in  the  stocks.     Both  Jucal  and  Pashhur  ben 

'  xxvi.  lO.  ^  xxxviii.  I, 


158  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Malchiah  had  been  sent  by  the  king  to  consult  Jere- 
miah.    Jucal  may  have  been  the  son  of  the  Shelemiah 
who  was  sent  to  arrest  Jeremiah  and  Baruch  after  the 
reading   of  the   roll.      We   note   the   absence   of  the 
princes  who  then  formed  Baruch's  audience,  some  of 
whom   tried  to  dissuade  Jehoiakim  from   burning  the 
roll ;    and   we   especially    miss    the    prophet's    former 
friend   and  protector,   Ahikam   ben  Shaphan.     Fifteen 
or  sixteen  years  had  elapsed  since  these  earlier  events ; 
some  ,of  Jeremiah's    adherents   were    dead,   others    in 
exile,  others  powerless  to  help  him.     We  may  safely 
conclude  that  his  judges  were  his  personal  and  political 
enemies.     Jeremiah  was  now  their  discomfited    rival  : 
a  few  weeks  before  he  had  been  master  of  the  city  and 
the  court.    Pharaoh  Hophra's  advance  had  enabled  them 
to  overthrow  him.     We  can  understand  that  they  would 
at  once  take  Irijah's  view  of  the  case.     They  treated 
their  fallen  antagonist  as  a  criminal  taken  in  the  act : 
"they  were  wroth  with  him/'   i.e.  they   overwhelmed 
him  with  a  torrent  of  abuse  ;  "  they  beat  him,  and  put 
him  in  prison  in  the  house  of  Jonathan  the  secretary." 
But  this  imprisonment  in  a  private  house  was  not  mild 
and  honourable  confinement  under  the  care  of  a  distin- 
guished  noble,  Who  was  rather  courteous    host    than 
harsh  gaoler.     "  They  had  made  that  the  prison,"  duly 
provided  with  a  dungeon  and  cells,  to  which  Jeremiah 
was  consigned  and  where  he  remained  ''  many  days." 
Prison  accommodation  at  Jerusalem  was  limited;  the 
Jewish  government  preferred  more  summary  methods 
of  dealing  with   malefactors.      The    revolution   which 
had  placed  the  present  government  in  power  had  given 
them  special  occasion  for  a  prison.     They  had  defeated 
rivals  whom  they  did  not  venture  to  execute  publicly, 
but  who  might  be  more  safely  starved  and  tortured  to 


xxxvii.ff.]  JEREMIAH'S  IMPRISONMENT  159 

death  in  secret.  For  such  a  fate  they  destined  Jeremiah. 
We  shall  not  do  injustice  to  Jonathan  the  secretary  if 
we  compare  the  hospitality  which  he  extended  to  his 
unwilling  guests  with  the  treatment  of  modern  Arme- 
nians in  Turkish  prisons.  Yet  the  prophet  remained 
alive  "  for  many  days  " ;  probably  his  enemies  reflected 
that  even  if  he  did  not  succumb  earlier  to  the  hardships 
of  his  imprisonment,  his  execution  would  suitably  adorn 
the  looked-for  triumph  of  Pharaoh  Hophra. 

Few  however  of  the  ''  many  days "  had  passed, 
before  men's  exultant  anticipations  of  victory  and 
deliverance  began  to  give  place  to  anxious  forebodings, 
They  had  hoped  to  hear  that  Nebuchadnezzar  had  been 
defeated  and  was  in  headlong  retreat  to  Chaldea ;  they 
had  been  prepared  to  join  in  the  pursuit  of  the  routed 
army,  to  gratify  their  revenge  by  massacring  the  fugi- 
tives and  to  share  the  plunder  with  their  Egyptian 
allies.  The  fortunes  of  war  belied  their  hopes ; 
Pharaoh  retreated,  either  after  a  battle  or  perhaps 
even  without  fighting.  The  return  of  the  enemy  was 
announced  by  the  renewed  influx  of  the  country  people 
to  seek  the  shelter  of  the  fortifications,  and  soon  the 
Jews  crowded  to  the  walls  as  Nebuchadnezzar's  van- 
guard appeared  in  sight  and  the  Chaldeans  occupied  their 
old  lines  and  re-formed  the  siege  of  the  doomed  city. 

There  was  no  longer  any  doubt  that  prudence  dic- 
tated immediate  surrender.  It  was  the  only  course  by 
which  the  people  might  be  spared  some  of  the  horrors 
of  a  prolonged  siege,  followed  by  the  sack  of  the  city. 
But  the  princes  who  controlled  the  government  were 
too  deeply  compromised  with  Egypt  to  dare  to  hope 
for  mercy.  With  Jeremiah  out  of  the  way,  they  were 
able  to  induce  the  king  and  the  people  to  maintain  their 
resistance,  and  the  siege  went  on. 


i6o  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

But  though  Zedekiah  was,  for  the  most  part,  power- 
less in  the  hands  of  the  princes,  he  ventured  now  and 
then  to  assert  himself  in  minor  matters,  and,  like  other 
feeble  sovereigns,  derived  some  consolation  amidst 
his  many  troubles  from  intriguing  with  the  opposition 
against  his  own  ministers.  His  feeling  and  behaviour 
towards  Jeremiah  were  similar  to  those  of  Charles  IX. 
towards  Coligny,  only  circumstances  made  the  Jewish 
king  a  more  efficient  protector  of  Jeremiah. 

At  this  new  and  disastrous  turn  of  affairs,  which  was 
an  exact  fulfilment  of  Jeremiah's  warnings,  the  king 
was  naturally  inclined  to  revert  to  his  former  faith  in 
the  prophet — if  indeed  he  had  ever  really  been  able  to 
shake  himself  free  from  his  influence.  Left  to  himself 
he  would  have  done  his  best  to  make  terms  with 
Nebuchadnezzar,  as  Jehoiakim  and  Jehoiachin  had  done 
before  him.  The  only  trustworthy  channel  of  help, 
human  or  divine,  was  Jeremiah.  Accordingly  he  sent 
secretly  to  the  prison  and  had  the  prophet  brought  into 
the  palace.  There  in  some  inner  chamber,  carefully 
guarded  from  intrusion  by  the  slaves  of  the  palace, 
Zedekiah  received  the  man  who  now  for  more  than 
forty  years  had  been  the  chief  counsellor  of  the  kings 
of  Judah,  often  in  spite  of  themselves.  Like  Saul  on 
the  eve  of  Gilboa,  he  was  too  impatient  to  let  disaster 
be  its  own  herald ;  the  silence  of  Heaven  seemed  more 
terrible  than  any  spoken  doom,  and  again  like  Saul  he 
turned  in  his  perplexity  and  despair  to  the  prophet  who 
had  rebuked  and  condemned  him.  '*  Is  there  any 
word  from  Jehovah  ?  And  Jeremiah  said,  There  is  :  .  .  . 
thou  shalt  be  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of 
Babylon." 

The  Church  is  rightly  proud  of  Ambrose  rebuking 
Theodosius  at  the  height  of  his  power  and  glory,  and 


xxxvii.ff.]  JEREMIAH'S  IMPRISONMENT  i6i 

of  Thomas  a  Becket,  unarmed  and  yet  defiant  before 
his  murderers ;  but  the  Jewish  prophet  showed  himself 
capable  of  a  simpler  and  grander  heroism.  For  *'  many 
days  "  he  had  endured  squalor,  confinement,  and  semi- 
starvation.  His  body  must  have  been  enfeebled  and 
his  spirit  depressed.  Weak  and  contemptible  as 
Zedekiah  was,  yet  he  was  the  prophet's  only  earthly 
protector  from  the  malice  of  his  enemies.  He  intended 
to  utilise  this  interview  for  an  appeal  for  release  from 
his  present  prison.  Thus  he  had  every  motive  for 
conciliating  the  man  who  asked  him  for  a  word  from 
Jehovah.  He  was  probably  alone  with  Zedekiah,  and 
was  not  nerved  to  self-sacrifice  by  any  opportunity  of 
making  public  testimony  to  the  truth,  and  yet  he  was 
faithful  alike  to  God  and  to  the  poor  helpless  king — 
'*  Thou  shalt  be  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  king 
of  Babylon." 

And  then  he  proceeds,  with  what  seems  to  us  in- 
consequent audacity,  to  ask  a  favour.  Did  ever 
petitioner  to  a  king  preface  his  supplication  with  so 
strange  a  preamble  ?     This  was  the  request  : — 

'*  Now  hear,  I  pray  thee,  O  my  lord  the  king  :  let  my 
supplication,  I  pray  thee,  be  accepted  before  thee  ;  that 
thou  do  not  cause  me  to  return  to  the  house  of  Jonathan 
the  secretary,  lest  I  die  there. 

"  Then  Zedekiah  the  king  commanded,  and  they 
committed  Jeremiah  into  the  court  of  the  guard,  and 
they  gave  him  daily  a  loaf  of  bread  out  of  the  bakers' 
street." 

A  loaf  of  bread  is  not  sumptuous  fare,  but  it  is 
evidently  mentioned  as  an  improvement  upon  his  prison 
diet :  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  Jeremiah 
was  afraid  he  would  die  in  the  house  of  Jonathan. 

During  this  milder  imprisonment  in  the  court  of  the 

II 


1 62  THE  BGGK  OF  JEREMIAH 

guard  occurred  the  incident  of  the  purchase  of  the  field 
at   Anathoth,    which  we  have    dealt    with   in    another 
chapter.     This  low  ebb  of  the  prophet's  fortunes  w^as 
the  occasion  of  Divnne  revelation  of  a  glorious  future  in 
store  for  Judah.     But  this  future  was  still  remote,  and 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  conspicuous  in  his  public 
teaching.     On  the  contrar}-  Jeremiah  availed  himself  of 
the  comparative  publicity  of  his  new  place  of  detention 
to  reiterate   in  the  ears  of  all  the  people   the  gloomy 
predictions  with  which  they  had  so  long  been  familiar  : 
"This  city  shall  assuredly  be  given  into  the  hand  of 
the  army  of  the  king  of  Babylon."     He  again  urged 
his  hearers  to  desert  to  the  enemy  :  "  He  that  abideth 
in  this  cit}'  shall  die  by  the  sword,  the  famine,  and  the 
pestilence  ;  but  he   that  goeth  forth   to  the  Chaldeans 
shall  live."    We  cannot  but  admire  the  splendid  courage 
of  the  solitary  prisoner,  helpless  in  the  hands  of  his 
enemies  and  yet    openl}'   defying  them.     He    left    his 
opponents  only  two  alternatives,  either  to  give  up  the 
government   into    his    hands    or   else    to    silence    him. 
Jeremiah  in  the  court  of  the  guard  was  really  carr3dng 
on  a  struggle  in  which  neither  side  either  would  or  could 
give   quarter.     He  was    trying  to  revive  the  energies 
of  the  partisans  of  Babylon,  that  they  might  overpower 
the  government  and  surrender  the  city  to  Nebuchad- 
nezzar.    If  he  had  succeeded,  the  princes  would  have 
had  a  short  shrift.     They  struck  back  with  the  prompt 
energy  of  men  fighting  for  their  lives.     No  government 
conducting   the    defence    of  a   besieged   fortress  could 
have  tolerated  Jeremiah  for  a  moment.     What  would 
have  been  the  fate  of  a  French  politician  who  should 
have  urged  Parisians  to  desert  to  the  Germans  during 
the  siege   of   1870?^     The  princes'  former  attempt  to 

'  Cf.  Renan,  iii.  333. 


xxxviLffl]  JEREMIAtrS  IMPRISONMENT  163 

deal  with  Jeremiah  had  been  thwarted  by  the  king ; 
this  time  they  tried  to  provide  beforehand  against  any 
officious  intermeddling  on  the  part  of  Zedekiah.  They 
extorted  from  him  a  sanction  of  their  proceedings. 

"  Then  the  princes  said  unto  the  king,  Let  this  man, 
we  pray  thee,  be  put  to  death  :  for  he  weakeneth  the 
hands  of  the  soldiers  that  are  left  in  this  city,  and  of  all 
the  people,  by  speaking  such  words  unto  them  :  for  this 
man  seeketh  not  the  welfare  of  this  people,  but  the 
hurt."  Certainl}^  Jeremiah's  word  was  enough  to  take 
the  heart  out  of  the  bravest  soldiers ;  his  preaching 
would  soon  have  rendered  further  resistance  impossible. 
But  the  concluding  sentence  about  the  '*  welfare  of  the 
people  "  was  merel}^  cheap  cant,  not  without  parallel 
in  the  savings  of  many  **  princes  "  in  later  times.  "  The 
welfare  of  the  people  "  would  have  been  best  promoted 
by  the  surrender  which  Jeremiah  advocated.  The  king 
does  not  pretend  to  S3Tnpathise  with  the  princes;  he 
acknowledges  himself  a  mere  tool  in  their  hands. 
"  Behold,"  he  answers,  "he  is  in  your  power,  for  the 
king  can  do  nothing  against  3'ou." 

"  Then  the}^  took  Jeremiah,  and  cast  him  into  the 
cistern  of  Malchiah  ben  Hammelech,  that  was  in  the 
court  of  the  guard ;  and  the}-  let  Jeremiah  down  with 
cords.  And  there  was  no  water  in  the  cistern,  only  mud. 
and  Jeremiah  sank  in  the  mud." 

The  depth  of  this  impro\Tsed  oubliette  is  shown  b}- 
the  use  of  cords  to  let  the  prisoner  down  into  it  How 
was  it,  however,  that,  after  the  release  of  Jeremiah 
from  the  cells  in  the  house  of  Jonathan,  the  princes  did 
not  at  once  execute  him  ?  Probabh',  in  spite  of  all  that 
had  happened,  they  still  felt  a  superstitious  dread  of 
actually  shedding  the  blood  of  a  prophet  In  some 
mysterious  way  thej^  felt  that  they  would  be  less  guilty 


1 64  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

if  they  left  him  in  the  empt}'  cistern  to  starve  to  death 
or  be  suffocated  in  the  mud,  than  if  they  had  his  head 
cut  off.  They  acted  in  the  spirit  of  Reuben's  advice 
concerning  Joseph,  v^ho  also  was  cast  into  an  empty 
pit,  Vi^ith  no  water  in  it  :  ^'  Shed  no  blood,  but  cast  him 
into  this  pit  in  the  wilderness,  and  lay  no  hand  upon 
him."^  By  a  similar  blending  of  hypocrisy  and  super- 
stition, the  mediaeval  Church  thought  to  keep  herself 
unstained  by  the  blood  of  heretics,  by  handing  them 
over  to  the  secular  arm  ;  and  Macbeth  having  hired 
some  one  else  to  kill  Banquo  was  emboldened  to  con- 
front his  ghost  with  the  words  : — 

"Thou  canst  not  say  I  did  it.     Never  shake 
Thy  gory  locks  at  me." 

But  the  princes  were  again  baffled ;  the  prophet  had 
friends  in  the  royal  household  who  were  bolder  than 
their  master :  Ebed-melech  the  Ethiopian,  an  eunuch, 
heard  that  they  had  put  Jeremiah  in  the  cistern.  He 
went  to  the  king,  who  was  then  sitting  in  the  gate  of 
Benjamin,  where  he  would  be  accessible  to  any  petitioner 
for  favour  or  justice,  and  interceded  for  the  prisoner  : — 

'*  My  lord  the  king,  these  men  have  done  evil  in  all 
that  they  have  done  to  Jeremiah  the  prophet,  whom 
they  have  cast  into  the  cistern ;  and  he  is  like  to  die 
in  the  place  where  he  is  because  of  the  famine,  for  there 
is  no  more  bread  in  the  city." 

Apparently  the  princes,  busied  with  the  defence  of 
the  city  and  in  their  pride  "too  much  despising"  their 
royal  master,  had  left  him  for  a  while  to  himself.  Em- 
boldened by  this  public  appeal  to  act  according  to  the 
dictates  of  his  own  heart  and  conscience,  and  possibly 

'  Gen.  xxxvii.  22-24. 


xxxvii.ff.]  JEREMIAH'S  IMPRISONMENT  165 

by  the  presence  of  other  friends  of  Jeremiah,  the  king 
acts  with  unwonted  courage  and  decision. 

**  The  king  commanded  Ebed-melech  the  Ethiopian, 
saying,  Take  with  thee  hence  thirty  men,  and  draw  up 
Jeremiah  the  prophet  out  of  the  cistern,  before  he  die. 
So  Ebed-melech  took  the  men  with  him,  and  went 
into  the  palace  under  the  treasury,  and  took  thence 
old  cast  clouts  and  rotten  rags,  and  let  them  down  by 
cords  into  the  cistern  to  Jeremiah.  And  he  said  to 
Jeremiah,  Put  these  old  cast  clouts  and  rotten  rags 
under  thine  armholes  under  the  cords.  And  Jeremiah 
did  so.  So  they  drew  him  up  with  the  cords,  and  took 
him  up  out  of  the  cistern  :  and  he  remained  in  the  court 
of  the  guard." 

Jeremiah's  gratitude  to  his  deliverer  is  recorded  in 
a  short  paragraph  in  which  Ebed-melech,  Hke  Baruch, 
is  promised  that  **  his  Hfe  shall  be  given  him  for  a 
prey."  He  should  escape  with  his  Hfe  from  the  sack 
of  the  city — "  because  he  trusted  "  in  Jehovah.  As 
of  the  ten  lepers  whom  Jesus  cleansed  only  the 
Samaritan  returned  to  give  glory  to  God,  so  when 
none  of  God's  people  were  found  to  rescue  His  prophet, 
the  dangerous  honour  was  accepted  by  an  Ethiopian 
proselyte.-^ 

Meanwhile  the  king  was  craving  for  yet  another 
"word  of  Jehovah."  True,  the  last  "word"  given  him 
by  the  prophet  had  been,  **  Thou  shalt  be  delivered 
into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Babylon."  But  now  that 
he  had  just  rescued  Jehovah's  prophet  from  a  miserable 
death  (he  forgot  that  Jeremiah  had  been  consigned  to 
the  cistern  by  his  own  authority),  possibly  there  might 
be  some  more  encouraging  message  from  God.     Accord- 

*  xxxix.  15-18. 


i66  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

ingly  he  sent  and  took  Jeremiah  unto  him  for  another 
secret  interview,  this  time  in  the  "  corridor  of  the 
bodyguard/'^  a  passage  between  the  palace  and  the 
Temple. 

Here  he  implored  the  prophet  to  give  him  a  faithful 
answer  to  his  questions  concerning  his  own  fate  and 
that  of  the  city :  ''  Hide  nothing  from  me."  But 
Jeremiah  did  not  respond  with  his  former  prompt 
frankness.  He  had  had  too  recent  a  warning  not  to 
put  his  trust  in  princes.  ''  If  I  declare  it  unto  thee," 
said  he,  "  wilt  thou  not  surely  put  me  to  death  ?  and 
if  I  give  thee  counsel,  thou  wilt  not  hearken  unto  me. 
So  Zedekiah  the  king  sware  secretly  to  Jeremiah,  As 
Jehovah  liveth,  who  is  the  source  and  giver  of  our 
life,  I  will  not  put  thee  to  death,  neither  will  I  give 
thee  into  the  hand  of  these  men  that  seek  thy  life. 

"Then  said  Jeremiah  unto  Zedekiah,  Thus  saith 
Jehovah,  the  God  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel :  If  thou 
wilt  go  forth  unto  the  king  of  Babylon's  princes,  thy 
life  shall  be  spared,  and  this  city  shall  not  be  burned, 
and  thou  and  thine  house  shall  live  ;  but  if  thou  wilt 
not  go  forth,  then  shall  this  city  be  given  into  the 
hand  of  the  Chaldeans,  and  they  shall  burn  it,  and  thou 
shalt  not  escape  out  of  their  hand. 

"Zedekiah  said  unto  Jeremiah,  I  am  afraid  of  the 
Jews  that  have  deserted  to  the  Chaldeans,  lest  they 
deliver  me  into  their  hand,  and  they  mock  me." 

He  does  not,  however,  urge  that  the  princes  will 
hinder  any  such  surrender;  he  believed  himself  suffi- 
ciently master  of  his  own  actions  to  be  able  to  escape 
to  the  Chaldeans  if  he  chose. 

But  evidently,  when  he  first  revolted  against  Babylon, 

*  So  Giesebrecht,  in  loco  ;  A.V.,  R.V.,  "third  entry."    In  any  case  it 
will  naturally  be  a  passage  from  the  palace  to  the  Temple. 


xxxvii.flf.]  JEREMIAH'S  IMPRISONMENT  167 

and  more  recently  when  the  siege  was  raised,  he  had 
been  induced  to  behave  harshly  tov/ards  her  partisans  : 
they  had  taken  refuge  in  considerable  numbers  in  the 
enemy's  camp,  and  now  he  was  afraid  of  their  venge- 
ance. Similarly,  in  Quentin  Durward,  Scott  represents 
Louis  XI.  on  his  visit  to  Charles  the  Bold  as  startled 
by  the  sight  of  the  banners  of  some  of  his  own  vassals, 
who  had  taken  service  with  Burgundy,  and  as  seeking 
protection  from  Charles  against  the  rebel  subjects  of 
France. 

Zedekiah  is  a  perfect  monument  of  the  miseries  that 
wait  upon  weakness  :  he  was  everybody's  friend  in  turn 
— now  a  docile  pupil  of  Jeremiah  and  gratifying  the 
Chaldean  party  by  his  professions  of  loyalty  to  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, and  now  a  pHant  tool  in  the  hands  of  the 
Egyptian  party  persecuting  his  former  friends.  At  the 
last  he  was  afraid  aUke  of  the  princes  in  the  city,  of 
the  exiles  in  the  enemy's  camp,  and  of  the  Chaldeans. 
The  mariner  who  had  to  pass  between  Scylla  and 
Charybdis  was  fortunate  compared  to  Zedekiah.  To 
the  end  he  clung  with  a  pathetic  blending  of  trust  and 
fearfulness  to  Jeremiah.  He  believed  him,  and  yet  he 
seldom  had  courage  to  act  according  to  his  counsel. 

Jeremiah  made  a  final  effort  to  induce  this  timid  soul 
to  act  with  firmness  and  decision.  He  tried  to  re- 
assure him  :  "  They  shall  not  deliver  thee  into  the 
hands  of  thy  revolted  subjects.  Obey,  I  beseech  thee, 
the  voice  of  Jehovah,  in  that  which  I  speak  unto  thee  : 
so  it  shall  be  well  with  thee,  and  thy  life  shall  be 
spared."  He  appealed  to  that  very  dread  of  ridicule 
which  the  king  had  just  betrayed.  If  he  refused  to 
surrender,  he  would  be  taunted  for  his  weakness  and 
folly  by  the  women  of  his  own  harem  : — 

"  If  thou  refuse  to  go  forth,  this  is  the  word  that 


l68  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


Jehovah  hath  showed  me  :  Behold,  all  the  women  left 
in  the  palace  shall  be  brought  forth  to  the  king  of 
Babylon's  princes,  and  those  women  shall  say,  Thy 
familiar  friends  have  duped  thee  and  got  the  better  of 
thee ;  thy  feet  are  sunk  in  the  mire,  and  they  have  left 
thee  in  the  lurch."  He  would  be  in  worse  plight  than 
that  from  which  Jeremiah  had  only  just  been  rescued, 
and  there  would  no  Ebed-melech  to  draw  him  out.  He 
would  be  humiHated  by  the  suffering  and  shame  of  his 
own  family  :  "  They  shall  bring  out  all  thy  wives  and 
children  to  the  Chaldeans."  He  himself  would  share 
with  them  the  last  extremity  of  suffering  :  *'  Thou  shalt 
not  escape  out  of  their  hand,  but  shalt  be  taken  by  the 
hand  of  the  king  of  Babylon." 

And  as  Tennyson  makes  it  the  climax  of  Geraint's 
degeneracy  that  he  was  not  only — 

"  Forgetful  of  his  glory  ana  his  name," 

but  also — 

"Forgetful  of  his  princedom  and  its  cares," 

so  Jeremiah  appeals  last  of  all  to  the  king's  sense  of 
responsibility  for  his  people  :  "  Thou  wilt  be  the  cause 
of  the  burning  of  the  city." 

In  spite  of  the  dominance  of  the  Egyptian  party, 
and  their  desperate  determination,  not  only  to  sell  their 
own  lives  dearly,  but  also  to  involve  king  and  people, 
city  and  temple,  in  their  own  ruin,  the  power  of  decisive 
action  still  rested  with  Zedekiah ;  if  he  failed  to  use 
it,  he  would  be  responsible  for  the  consequences. 

Thus  Jeremiah  strove  to  possess  the  king  with  some 
breath  of  his  own  dauntless  spirit  and  iron  will. 

Zedekiah  paused  irresolute.  A  vision  of  possible 
deliverance  passed  through  his  mind.     His  guards  and 


xxx%ai.fr.]  JEREMIAH'S  IMPRISONMENT  169 

the  domestics  of  the  palace  were  within  call.  The 
princes  were  unprepared  ;  they  would  never  dream  that 
he  was  capable  of  anything  so  bold.  It  would  be  easy 
to  seize  the  nearest  gate,  and  hold  it  long  enough  tq 
admit  the  Chaldeans.  But  no  I  he  had  not  nerve 
enough.  Then  his  predecessors  Joash,  Amaziah, 
and  Amon  had  been  assassinated,  and  for  the  moment 
the  daggers  of  the  princes  and  their  followers  seemed 
more  terrible  than  Chaldean  instruments  of  torture. 
He  lost  all  thought  of  his  own  honour  and  his  duty 
to  his  people  in  his  anxiety  to  provide  against  this 
more  immediate  danger.  Never  was  the  fate  of  a  nation 
decided  by  a  meaner  utterance.  "  Then  said  Zedekiah 
to  Jeremiah,  No  one  must  know^  about  our  meeting, 
and  thou  shalt  not  die.  If  the  princes  hear  that  I 
have  talked  with  thee,  and  come  and  say  unto  thee, 
Declare  unto  us  now  what  thou  hast  said  unto  the 
king ;  hide  it  not  from  us,  and  we  will  not  put  thee  to 
death  :  declare  unto  us  what  the  king  said  unto  thee  : 
then  thou  shalt  say  unto  them,  I  presented  m}'  supplica- 
tion unto  the  king,  that  he  would  not  cause  me  to 
return  to  Jonathan's  house,  to  die  there. 

*'  Then  all  the  princes  came  to  Jeremiah,  and  asked 
him;  and  he  told  them  just  w^hat  the  king  had  com- 
manded. So  they  let  him  alone,  for  no  report  of  the 
matter  had  got  abroad."  We  are  a  little  surprised  that 
the  princes  so  easil}'  abandoned  their  purpose  of  putting 
Jeremiah  to  death,  and  did  not  at  once  consign  him 
afresh  to  the  empty  cistern.  Probably  the}^  w^ere  too 
disheartened  for  vigorous  action ;  the  garrison  were 
starving,  and  it  was  clear  that  the  city  could  not  hold 
out  much  longer.  Moreover  the  superstition  that  had 
shrunk  from  using  actual  violence  to  the  prophet  would 
suspect  a  token  of  Divine  displeasure  in  his  release. 


I70  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

.  Another  question  raised  by  this  incident  is  that  of 
the  prophet's  veracity,  which,  at  first  sight,  does  not 
seem  superior  to  that  of  the  patriarchs.  It  is  very 
probable  that  the  prophet,  as  at  the  earher  interview, 
had  entreated  the  king  not  to  allow  him  to  be  confined 
in  the  cells  in  Jonathan's  house,  but  the  narrative 
rather  suggests  that  the  king  constructed  this  pretext 
on  the  basis  of  the  former  interview.  Moreover,  if 
the  princes  let  Jeremiah  escape  with  nothing  less 
innocent  than  a  suppressio  veri^  if  they  were  satisfied 
with  anything  less  than  an  explicit  statement  that  the 
place  of  the  prophet's  confinement  was  the  sole  topic 
of  conversation,  they  must  have  been  more  guileless 
that  we  can  easily  imagine.  But,  at  any  rate,  if  |  \ 
Jeremiah  did  stoop  to  dissimulation,  it  was  to  protect  ,  , 
Zedekiah,  not  to  save  himself 

Zedekiah  is  a  conspicuous  example  of  the  strange 
irony  with  which  Providence  entrusts  incapable  persons 
with  the  decision  of  most  momentous  issues  ;  It  sets 
Laud  and  Charles  I.  to  adjust  the  Tudor  Monarchy 
to  the  sturdy  self-assertion  of  Puritan  England,  and 
Louis  XVI.  to  cope  with  the  French  Revolution.  Such 
histories  are  after  all  calculated  to  increase  the  self- 
respect  of  those  who  are  weak  and  timid.  Moments 
come,  even  to  the  feeblest,  when  their  action  must  have 
the  most  serious  results  for  all  connected  with  them. 
It  is  one  of  the  crowning  glories  of  Christianity  that 
it  preaches  a  strength  that  is  made  perfect  in  weakness. 
Perhaps  the  most  significant  feature  in  this  narrative 
is  the  conclusion  of  Jeremiah's  first  interview  with  the 
king.  Almost  in  the  same  breath  the  prophet  announces 
to  Zedekiah  his  approaching  ruin  and  begs  from  him 
a  favour.  He  thus  defines  the  true  attitude  of  the 
believer  towards  the  prophet. 


xxxvii.ff.]  JEREMIAH'S  IMPRISONMENT  171 

Unwelcome  teaching  must  not  be  allowed  to  inter- 
fere with  wonted  respect  and  deference,  or  to  provoke 
resentment.  Possibly  if  this  truth  were  less  obvious 
men  would  be  more  willing  to  give  it  a  hearing  and 
it  might  be  less  persistently  ignored.  But  the  prophet's 
behaviour  is  even  more  striking  and  interesting  as  a 
revelation  of  his  own  character  and  of  the  true  prophetic 
spirit.  His  faithful  answer  to  the  king  involved  much 
courage,  but  that  he  should  proceed  from  such  an 
answer  to  such  a  petition  shows  a  simple  and  sober 
dignity  not  always  associated  with  courage.  When 
men  are  wrought  up  to  the  pitch  of  uttering  disagree- 
able truths  at  the  risk  of  their  lives,  they  often  develop 
a  spirit  of  defiance,  which  causes  personal  bitterness  and 
animosity  between  themselves  and  their  hearers,  and 
renders  impossible  an}^  asking  or  granting  of  favours. 
Many  men  would  have  felt  that  a  petition  com- 
promised their  own  dignity  and  weakened  the  authority 
of  the  divine  message.  The  exaltation  of  self-sacrifice 
which  inspired  them  v/ould  have  suggested  that  they 
ought  not  to  risk  the  crown  of  martyrdom  by  any  such 
appeal,  but  rather  welcome  torture  and  death.  Thus 
some  amongst  the  early  Christians  would  present  them- 
selves before  the  Roman  tribunals  and  try  to  provoke 
the  magistrates  into  condemning  them.  But  Jeremiah, 
like  Polycarp  and  Cyprian,  neither  courted  nor  shunned 
martyrdom ;  he  was  as  incapable  of  bravado  as  he  was 
of  fear.  He  was  too  intent  upon  serving  his  country 
and  glorifying  God,  too  possessed  with  his  mission 
and  his  message,  to  fall  a  prey  to  the  self-conscious- 
ness which  betrays  men,  sometimes  even  martyrs, 
into  theatrical  ostentation. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

GEDALIAH 

xxxix. — xli.,  lii.' 

''Then  arose  Ishmael  ben  Nethaniah,  and  the  ten  men  that  were  with 
him,  and  smote  with  the  sword  and  slew  Gedahah  ben  Ahikam  ben 
Shaphan,  whom  the  king  of  Babylon  had  made  king  over  the  land." 
— Jer.  xli.  2. 

WE  now  pass  to  the  concluding  period  of  Jeremiah's 
ministry.  His  last  interview  with  Zedekiah  was 
speedily  followed  by  the  capture  of  Jerusalem.  With 
that  catastrophe  the  curtain  falls  upon  another  act  in 
the  tragedy  of  the  prophet's  hfe.  Most  of  the  chief 
dramatis  personce  make  their  final  exit ;  only  Jeremiah 
and  Baruch  remain.  King  and  princes,  priests  and 
prophets,  pass  to  death  or  captivity,  and  new  characters 
appear  to  play  their  part  for  a  while  upon  the  vacant 
stage. 

We  would  gladly  know  how  Jeremiah  fared  on  that 
night  when  the  city  was  stormed,  and  Zedekiah  and 
his  army  stole  out  in  a  vain  attempt  to  escape  beyond 
Jordan.  Our  book  preserves  two  brief  but  inconsistent 
narratives  of  his  fortunes. 

One  is  contained  in  xxxix.    11-14.     Nebuchadnezzar, 

% 

*  Chapter  lii.  =  2  Kings  xxiv.  18 — xxv.  30,  and  xxxix.  i-io  =  Hi. 
4-16,  in  each  case  with  minor  variations  which  do  not  specially  bear 
upon  our  subject.  Cf.  Driver,  Introduction,  in  loco.  The  detailed  treat- 
ment of  this  section  belongs  to  the  exposition  of  the  Book  of  Kings. 

172 


xxxix.-xli.,  Hi.]  GEDALIAH  173 

we  must  remember,  was  not  present  in  person  with 
the  besieging  army.  His  headquarters  were  at  Riblah, 
far  away  in  the  north.  He  had,  however,  given  special 
instructions  concerning  Jeremiah  to  Nebuzaradan,  the 
general  commanding  the  forces  before  Jerusalem : 
"  Take  him,  and  look  well  to  him,  and  do  him  no  harm ; 
but  do  with  him  even  as  he  shall  say  unto  thee." 

Accordingly  Nebuzaradan  and  all  the  king  of 
Babylon's  princes  sent  and  took  Jeremiah  out  of  the 
court  of  the  guard,  and  committed  him  to  Gedaliah  ben 
Ahikam  ben  Shaphan,  to  take  him  to  his  house.^  And 
Jeremiah  dwelt  among  the  people. 

This  account  is  not  only  inconsistent  with  that  given 
in  the  next  chapter,  but  it  also  represents  Nebuzar- 
adan as  present  when  the  city  was  taken,  whereas 
later  on  ^  we  are  told  that  he  did  not  come  upon  the 
scene  till  a  month  later.  For  these  and  similar  reasons, 
this  version  of  the  story  is  generally  considered  the 
less  trustworthy.  It  apparently  grew  up  at  a  time 
when  the  other  characters  and  interests  of  the  period 
had  been  thrown  into  the  shade  by  the  reverent 
recollection  of  Jeremiah  and  his  ministry.  It  seemed 
natural  to  suppose  that  Nebuchadnezzar  was  equally 
preoccupied  with  the  fortunes  of  the  great  prophet 
who  had  consistently  preached  obedience  to  his 
authority.  The  section  records  the  intense  reverence 
which  the  Jews  of  the  Captivity  felt  for  Jeremiah. 
We  are  more  likely,  however,  to  get  a  true  idea 
of  what  happened  by  following  the  narrative  in 
chapter  xl. 

*  Literally  "  the  house  " — either  Jeremiah's  or  Gedaliah's,  or  pos- 
sibly the  royal  palace. 
'  lii.  6,  12. 


174  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

According  to  this  account,  Jeremiah  was  not  at  once 
singled  out  for  any  exceptionally  favourable  treatment. 
When  Zedekiah  and  the  soldiers  had  left  the  city, 
there  can  have  been  no  question  of  further  resistance. 
The  history  does  not  mention  any  massacre  by  the 
conquerors,  but  we  may  probably  accept  Lamentations 
ii.  20,  21,  as  a  description  of  the  sack  of  Jerusalem  : — 

"  Shall  the  priest  and   the  prophet  be  slain   in  the  sanctuary  of 
the  Lord  ? 
The  youth  and  the  old  man  lie  on  the  ground  in  the  streets; 
My  virgins  and  my  young  men  are  fallen  by  the  sword; 
Thou  hast  slain  them  in  the  day  of  Thine  anger; 
Thou  hast  slaughtered,  and  not  pitied." 

Yet  the  silence  of  Kings  and  Jeremiah  as  to  all  this, 
combined  with  their  express  statements  as  to  captives, 
indicates  that  the  Chaldean  generals  did  not  order  a 
massacre,  but  rather  sought  to  take  prisoners.  The 
soldiers  would  not  be  restrained  from  a  certain 
slaughter  in  the  heat  of  their  first  breaking  into  the 
city ;  but  prisoners  had  a  market  value,  and  were 
provided  for  by  the  practice  of  deportation  which 
Babylon  had  inherited  from  Nineveh.  Accordingly 
the  soldiers*  lust  for  blood  was  satiated  or  bridled 
before  they  reached  Jeremiah's  prison.  The  court  of 
the  guard  probably  formed  part  of  the  precincts  of  the 
palace,  and  the  Chaldean  commanders  would  at  once 
secure  its  occupants  for  Nebuchadnezzar.  Jeremiah 
was  taken  with  other  captives  and  put  in  chains.  If 
the  dates  in  lii.  6,  I2,  be  correct,  he  must  have 
remained  a  prisoner  till  the  arrival  of  Nebuzaradan, 
a  month  later  on.  He  was  then  a  witness  of  the 
burning  of  the  city  and  the  destruction  of  the  fortifica- 
tions, and  was  carried  with  the  other  captives  to  Ramah. 
Here   the   Chaldean   general  found   leisure  to  inquire 


xxxix.-xli.,lii.]  GEDALIAH  175 

into  the  deserts  of  individual  prisoners  and  to  decide 
how  they  should  be  treated.  He  would  be  aided  in 
this  task  by  the  Jewish  refugees  from  whose  ridicule 
Zedekiah  had  shrunk,  and  they  would  at  once  inform 
him  of  the  distinguished  sanctity  of  the  prophet  and 
of  the  conspicuous  services  he  had  rendered  to  the 
Chaldean  cause. 

Nebuzaradan  at  once  acted  upon  their  representa- 
tions. He  ordered  Jeremiah's  chains  to  be  removed, 
gave  him  full  liberty  to  go  where  he  pleased,  and 
assured  him  of  the  favour  and  protection  of  the  Chaldean 
government : — 

"  If  it  seem  good  unto  thee  to  come  with  me  into 
Babylon,  come,  and  I  will  look  well  unto  thee ;  but 
if  it  seem  ill  unto  thee  to  come  with  me  into  Babylon, 
forbear  :  behold,  all  the  land  is  before  thee  ;  go  whither- 
soever it  seemeth  to  thee  good  and  right." 

These  words  are,  however,  preceded  by  two 
remarkable  verses.  For  the  nonce,  the  prophet's 
mantle  seems  to  have  fallen  upon  the  Chaldean  soldier. 
He  speaks  to  his  auditor  just  as  Jeremiah  himself  had 
been  wont  to  address  his  erring  fellow-countrymen : — 

"  Thy  God  Jehovah  pronounced  this  evil  upon  this 
place  :  and  Jehovah  hath  brought  it,  and  done  according 
as  He  spake  ;  because  ye  have  sinned  against  Jehovah, 
and  have  not  obeyed  His  voice,  therefore  this  thing  is 
come  unto  you." 

Possibly  Nebuzaradan  did  not  include  Jeremiah 
personally  in  the  '^ye"  and  **  you  "  ;  and  yet  a  prophet's 
message  is  often  turned  upon  himself  in  this  fashion. 
Even  in  our  day  outsiders  will  not  be  at  the  trouble  to 
distinguish  between  one  Christian  and  another,  and 
will  often  denounce  a  man  for  his  supposed  share  in 
Church  abuses  he  has  strenuously  combated. 


176  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

We  need  not  be  surprised  that  a  heathen  noble  can 
talk  like  a  pious  Jew.  The  Chaldeans  were  eminently 
religious,  and  their  worship  of  Bel  and  Merodach  may 
often  have  been  as  spiritual  and  sincere  as  the  homage 
paid  by  most  Jews  to  Jehovah.  The  Babylonian  creed 
could  recognise  that  a  foreign  state  might  have  its  own 
legitimate  deity  and  would  suffer  for  disloyalty  to  him. 
Assyrian  and  Chaldean  kings  were  quite  willing  to 
accept  the  prophetic  doctrine  that  Jehovah  had  com- 
missioned them  to  punish  this  disobedient  people. 
Still  Jeremiah  must  have  been  a  little  taken  aback 
when  one  of  the  cardinal  points  of  his  own  teaching 
was  expounded  to  him  by  so  strange  a  preacher  ;  but 
he  was  too  prudent  to  raise  any  discussion  on  the 
matter,  and  too  chivalrous  to  wish  to  establish  his  own 
rectitude  at  the  expense  of  his  brethren.  Moreover 
he  had  to  decide  between  the  two  alternatives  offered 
him  by  Nebuzaradan.  Should  he  go  to  Babylon  or 
remain  in  Judah  ? 

According  to  a  suggestion  of  Gratz,  accepted  by 
Cheyne,^  xv.  10-21  is  a  record  of  the  inner  struggle 
through  which  Jeremiah  came  to  a  decision  on  this 
matter.  The  section  is  not  very  clear,  but  it  suggests 
that  at  one  time  it  seemed  Jehovah's  will  that  he  should 
go  to  Babylon,  and  that  it  was  only  after  much  hesitation 
that  he  was  convinced  that  God  required  him  to  remain 
in  Judah.  Powerful  motives  drew  him  in  either  direc- 
tion. At  Babylon  he  would  reap  the  full  advantage  of 
Nebuchadnezzar's  favour,  and  would  enjoy  the  order 
and  culture  of  a  great  capital.  He  would  meet  with 
old   friends  and    disciples,   amongst  the   rest    Ezekiel. 


'  Pulpit  Commentary,  in  loco.     Cf.  the  previous  volume  on  Jeremiah 
in  this  series. 


xxxix.-xli.,  lii.]  GEDALIAH  177 

He  would  find  an  important  sphere  for  ministry  amongst 
the  large  Jewish  community  in  Chaldea,  where  the 
flower  of  the  whole  nation  was  now  in  exile.  In  Judah 
he  would  have  to  share  the  fortunes  of  a  feeble  and 
suffering  remnant,  and  would  be  exposed  to  all  the 
dangers  and  disorder  consequent  on  the  break-up  of 
the  national  government — brigandage  on  the  part  of 
native  guerilla  bands  and  raids  by  the  neighbouring 
tribes.  These  guerilla  bands  were  the  final  efibrt  of 
Jewish  resistance,  and  would  seek  to  punish  as  traitors , 
those  who  accepted  the  dominion  of  Babylon. 

On  the  other  hand,  Jeremiah's  surviving  enemies, 
priests,  prophets,  and  princes,  had  been  taken  en  masse 
to  Babylon.  On  his  arrival  he  would  find  himself 
again  plunged  into  the  old  controversies.  Many  if  not 
the  majority  of  his  countrymen  there  would  regard  him 
as  a  traitor.  The  protege'  of  Nebuchadnezzar  was  sure 
to  be  disHked  and  distrusted  by  his  less  fortunate 
brethren.  And  Jeremiah  was  not  a  born  courtier  like 
Josephus.  In  Judah,  moreover,  he  would  be  amongst 
friends  of  his  own  way  of  thinking  ;  the  remnant  left 
behind  had  been  placed  under  the  authority  of  his 
friend  Gedaliah,  the  son  of  his  former  protector  Ahikam, 
the  grandson  of  his  ancient  ally  Shaphan.  He  would 
be  free  from  the  anathemas  of  corrupt  priests  and  the 
contradiction  of  false  prophets.  The  advocacy  of  true 
religion  amongst  the  exiles  might  safely  be  left  to 
Ezekiel  and  his  school. 

But  probably  ■  the  motives  that  decided  Jeremiah's 
course  of  action  were,  firstly,  that  devoted  attachment 
to  the  sacred  soil  which  was  a  passion  with  every 
earnest  Jew;  and,  secondly,  the  inspired  conviction 
that  Palestine  was  to  be  the  scene  of  the  future 
development  of  revealed  religion.     This  conviction  was 

12 


1 78  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

coupled  with  the  hope  that  the  scattered  refugees  who 
were  rapidly  gathering  at  Mizpah  under  Gedaliah 
might  lay  the  foundations  of  a  new  community,  which 
should  become  the  instrument  of  the  divine  purpose. 
Jeremiah  was  no  deluded  visionary,  who  would  suppose 
that  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  had  exhausted  God's 
judgments,  and  that  the  millennium  would  forthwith 
begin  for  the  special  and  exclusive  benefit  of  his 
surviving  companions  in  Judah.  Nevertheless,  while 
there  was  an  organised  Jewish  community  left  on  native 
soil,  it  would  be  regarded  as  the  heir  of  the  national 
religious  hopes  and  aspirations,  and  a  prophet,  with 
liberty  of  choice,  would  feel  it  his  duty  to  remain. 

Accordingly  Jeremiah  decided  to  join  Gedaliah.-^ 
Nebuzaradan  gave  him  food  and  a  present,  and  let 
him  go. 

Gedaliah's  headquarters  were  at  Mizpah,  a  town 
not  certainly  identified,  but  lying  somewhere  to  the 
north-west  of  Jerusalem,  and  playing  an  important 
part  in  the  history  of  Samuel  and  Saul.  Men  would 
remember  the  ancient  record  which  told  how  the  first 
Hebrew  king  had  been  divinely  appointed  at  Mizpah, 
and  might  regard  the  coincidence  as  a  happy  omen  that 
Gedaliah  would  found  a  kingdom  more  prosperous  and 
permanent  than  that  which  traced  its  origin  to  Saul. 

Nebuzaradan  had  left  with  the  new  governor  ''  men, 
women,  and  children,  ...  of  them  that  were  not  carried 
away  captive  to  Babylon."     These  were  chiefly  of  the 

'  The  sequence  of  verses  4  and  5  has  been  spoilt  by  some 
corruption  of  the  text.  The  versions  diverge  variously  from  the 
Hebrev/.  Possibly  the  original  text  told  how  Jeremiah  found 
himself  unable  to  give  an  immediate  answer,  and  Nebuzaradan,  ob- 
serving his  hesitation,  bade  him  return  to  Gedaliah  and  decide  at 
his  leisure. 


xxxix.-xli.,lii.]  GEDALIAH  I79 


poorer  sort,  but  not  altogether,  for  among  them  were 
''  royal  princesses  "  and  doubtless  others  belonging  to 
the  ruling  classes.  Apparently  after  these  arrange- 
ments had  been  made  the  Chaldean  forces  were  almost 
entirely  withdrawn,  and  Gedaliah  was  left  to  cope  with 
the  many  difficulties  of  the  situation  by  his  own  unaided 
resources.  For  a  time  all  went  well.  It  seemed  at 
first  as  if  the  scattered  bands  of  Jewish  soldiers  still  in 
the  field  would  submit  to  the  Chaldean  government  and 
acknowledge  Gedaliah's  authority.  Various  captains 
with  their  bands  came  to  him  at  Mizpah,  amongst  them 
Ishmael  ben  Nethaniah,  Johanan  ben  Kareah  and  his 
brother  Jonathan.  Gedaliah  swore  to  them  that  they 
should  be  pardoned  and  protected  by  the  Chaldeans. 
He  confirmed  them  in  their  possession  of  the  towns 
and  districts  they  had  occupied  after  the  departure  of 
the  enemy.  They  accepted  his  assurance,  and  their 
alliance  with  him  seemed  to  guarantee  the  safety  and 
prosperity  of  the  settlement.  Refugees  from  Moab,  the 
Ammonites,  Edom,  and  all  the  neighbouring  countries 
flocked  to  Mizpah,  and  busied  themselves  in  gathering 
in  the  produce  of  the  oliveyards  and  vineyards  which 
had  been  left  ownerless  when  the  nobles  were  slain 
or  carried  away  captive.  Many  of  the  poorer  Jews 
revelled  in  such  unwonted  plenty,  and  felt  that  even 
national  ruin  had  its  compensations. 

Tradition  has  supplemented  what  the  sacred  record 
tells  us  of  this  period  in  Jeremiah's  history.  We  are 
told^  that  "it  is  also  found  in  the  records  that  the 
prophet  Jeremiah  "  commanded  the  exiles  to  take  with 
them  fire  from  the  altar  of  the  Temple,  and  further 
exhorted  them  to  observe  the  law  and  to  abstain  from 

*  2  Mace.  ii.  1-8, 


i8o  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

idolatry ;  and  that  *'  it  was  also  contained  in  the  same 
writing,  that  the  prophet,  being  warned  of  God,  com- 
manded the  tabernacle  and  the  ark  to  go  with  him,  as 
he  went  forth  unto  the  mountain,  where  Moses  climbed 
up,  and  saw  the  heritage  of  God.  And  when  Jeremiah 
came  thither,  he  found  an  hollow  cave,  wherein  he  laid 
the  tabernacle  and  the  ark  and  the  altar  of  incense,  and 
so  stopped  the  door.  And  some  of  those  that  followed 
him  came  to  mark  the  way,  but  they  could  not  find  it : 
which  when  Jeremiah  perceived  he  blamed  them,  saying, 
As  for  that  place,  it  shall  be  unknown  until  the  time  that 
God  gather  His  people  again  together  and  receive  them 
to  His  mercy." 

A  less  improbable  tradition  is  that  which  narrates 
that  Jeremiah  composed  the  Book  of  Lamentations 
shortly  after  the  capture  of  the  city.  This  is  first 
stated  by  the  Septuagint ;  it  has  been  adopted  by  the 
Vulgate  and  various  Rabbinical  authorities,  and  has 
received  considerable  support  from  Christian  scholars.^ 
Moreover  as  the  traveller  leaves  Jerusalem  by  the 
Damascus  Gate,  he  passes  great  stone  quarries,  where 
Jeremiah's  Grotto  is  still  pointed  out  as  the  place  where 
the  prophet  composed  his  elegy. 

Without  entering  into  the  general  question  of  the 
authorship  of  Lamentations,  we  may  venture  to  doubt 
whether  it  can  be  referred  to  any  period  of  Jeremiah's 
life  which  is  dealt  with  in  our  book  ;  and  even  whether 
it  accurately  represents  his  feelings  at  any  such  period. 
During  the  first  month  that  followed  the  capture  of 
Jerusalem  the  Chaldean  generals  held  the  city  and  its 
inhabitants  at  the  disposal  of  their  king.     His  decision 


'  Cf.    Professor    Adeney's     Canticles    and   Lamentations    in     this 
series. 


xxxix.-xli.,  Hi.]  GEDALIAH 


was  uncertain ;  it  was  by  no  means  a  matter  of  course 
that  he  would  destroy  the  city.  Jerusalem  had  been 
spared  by  Pharaoh  Necho  after  the  defeat  of  Josiah, 
and  by  Nebuchadnezzar  after  the  revolt  of  Jehoiakim. 
Jeremiah  and  the  other  Jews  must  have  been  in  a  state 
of  extreme  suspense  as  to  their  own  fate  and  that  of 
their  city,  very  different  from  the  attitude  of  Lamenta- 
tions. This  suspense  was  ended  when  Nebuzaradan 
arrived  and  proceeded  to  burn  the  city.  Jeremiah 
witnessed  the  fulfilment  of  his  own  prophecies  when 
Jerusalem  was  thus  overtaken  by  the  ruin  he  had 
so  often  predicted.  As  he  stood  there  chained  amongst 
the  other  captives,  many  of  his  neighbours  must  have 
felt  towards  him  as  we  should  feel  towards  an 
anarchist  gloating  over  the  spectacle  of  a  successful 
dynamite  explosion  ;  and  Jeremiah  could  not  be 
ignorant  of  their  sentiments.  His  own  emotions 
would  be  sufficiently  vivid,  but  they  would  not  be 
so  simple  as  those  of  the  great  elegy.  Probably  they 
were  too  poignant  to  be  capable  of  articulate  expres- 
sion ;  and  the  occasion  was  not  likely  to  be  fertile  in 
acrostics. 

Doubtless  when  the  venerable  priest  and  prophet 
looked  from  Ramah  or  Mizpah  towards  the  blackened 
ruins  of  the  Temple  and  the  Holy  City,  he  was  pos- 
sessed by  something  of  the  spirit  of  Lamentations. 
But  from  the  moment  when  he  went  to  Mizpah  he 
would  be  busily  occupied  in  assisting  Gedaliah  in  his 
gallant  effort  to  gather  the  nucleus  of  a  new  Israel  out 
of  the  flotsam  and  jetsam  of  the  shipwreck  of  Judah. 
Busy  with  this  work  of  practical  beneficence,  his  un- 
conquerable spirit  already  possessed  with  visions  of  a 
brighter  future,  Jeremiah  could  not  lose  himself  in  mere 
regrets  for  the  past. 


i82  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

He  was  doomed  to  experience  yet  another  disappoint- 
ment. Gedaliah  had  only  held  his  office  for  about  two 
months/  when  he  was  warned  by  Johanan  ben  Kareah 
and  the  other  captains  that  Ishmael  ben  Nethaniah  had 
been  sent  by  Baalis,  king  of  the  Ammonites,  to  assas- 
sinate him.  Gedaliah  refused  to  believe  them.  Johanan, 
perhaps  surmising  that  the  governor's  incredulity  was 
assumed,  came  to  him  privately  and  proposed  to  anti- 
cipate Ishmael  :  ''  Let  me  go,  I  pray  thee,  and  slay 
Ishmael  ben  Nethaniah,  and  no  one  shall  know  it : 
wherefore  should  he  slay  thee,  that  all  the  Jews  which 
are  gathered  unto  thee  should  be  scattered,  and  the 
remnant  of  Judah  perish  ?  But  Gedaliah  ben  Ahikam 
said  unto  Johanan  ben  Kareah,  Thou  shalt  not  do  this 
thing  :  for  thou  speakest  falsely  of  Ishmael." 

Gedaliah's  misplaced  confidence  soon  had  fatal  con- 
sequences. In  the  second  month,  about  October,  the 
Jews  in  the  ordinary  course  of  events  would  have 
celebrated  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  to  return  thanks 
for  their  plentiful  ingathering  of  grapes,  olives,  and 
summer  fruit.  Possibly  this  occasion  gave  Ishmael  a 
pretext  for  visiting  Mizpah.  He  came  thither  with  ten 
nobles  who,  like  himself,  were  connected  with  the  royal 
family  and  probably  were  among  the  princes  who 
persecuted  Jeremiah.  This  small  and  distinguished 
company  could  not  be  suspected  of  intending  to  use 
violence,  Ishmael  seemed  to  be  reciprocating  Gedaliah's 
confidence  by  putting  himself  in  the  governor's  power. 


*  Cf.  Hi.  12,  "fifth  month,"  and  xli.  i,  "seventh  month."  Cheyne 
however  points  out  that  no  year  is  specified  in  xli.  I,  and  holds  that 
Gedaliah's  governorship  lasted  for  over  four  years,  and  that  the  de- 
portation four  years  (lii.  30)  after  the  destruction  of  the  city  was  the 
prompt  punishment  of  his  murder. 


xxxix.-xli.,  Hi.]  GEDALIAH 


Gedaliah  feasted  his  guests.  Johanan  and  the  other 
captains  were  not  present ;  they  had  done  what  they 
could  to  save  him,  but  they  did  not  wait  to  share  the 
fate  which  he  was  bringing  on  himself. 

"  Then  arose  Ishmael  ben  Nethaniah  and  his  ten 
companions  and  smote  Gedaliah  ben  Ahikam  .  .  .  and 
all  the  Jewish  and  Chaldean  soldiers  that  were  with 
him  at  Mizpah." 

Probably  the  eleven  assassins  were  supported  by  a 
larger  body  of  followers,  who  waited  outside  the  city 
and  made  their  way  in  amidst  the  confusion  consequent 
on  the  murder ;  doubtless,  too,  they  had  friends  amongst 
Gedaliah's  entourage.  These  accomplices  had  first  lulled 
any  suspicions  that  he  might  feel  as  to  Ishmael,  and 
had  then  helped  to  betray  their  master. 

Not  contented  with  the  slaughter  which  he  had 
already  perpetrated,  Ishmael  took  measures  to  prevent 
the  news  getting  abroad,  and  lay  in  wait  for  any  other 
adherents  of  Gedaliah  who  might  come  to  visit  him. 
He  succeeded  in  entrapping  a  company  of  eighty  men 
from  Northern  Israel  :  ten  were  allowed  to  purchase 
their  lives  by  revealing  hidden  stores  of  wheat,  barley, 
oil,  and  honey ;  the  rest  were  slain  and  thrown  into 
an  ancient  pit,  **  which  King  Asa  had  made  for  fear  of 
Baasha  king  of  Israel." 

These  men  were  pilgrims,  w^ho  came  with  shaven 
chins  and  torn  clothes,  "and  having  cut  themselves, 
bringing  meal  offerings  and  frankincense  to  the  house 
of  Jehovah."  The  pilgrims  were  doubtless  on  their 
way  to  celebrate  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles :  with  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple,  all  the  joy  of 
that  festival  would  be  changed  to  mourning  and  its 
songs  to  wailing.  Possibly  they  were  going  to  lament 
on  the  site  of  the  ruined  temple.     But  Mizpah  itself 


i84  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

had  an  ancient  sanctuary.  Hosea  speaks  of  the  priests, 
princes,  and  people  of  Israel  as  having  been  "  a  snare 
on  Mizpah."  Jeremiah  may  have  sanctioned  the  use 
of  this  local  temple  thinking  that  Jehovah  would  "  set 
His  name  there  "  till  Jerusalem  was  restored,  even  as  He 
had  dwelt  at  Shiloh  before  He  chose  the  City  of  David. 
But  to  whatever  shrine  these  pilgrims  were  journeying, 
their  errand  should  have  made  them  sacrosanct  to  all 
Jews.  Ishmael's  hypocrisy,  treachery,  and  cruelty  in 
this  matter  go  far  to  justify  Jeremiah's  bitterest  in- 
vectives against  the  princes  of  Judah. 

But  after  this  bloody  deed  it  was  high  time  for 
Ishmael  to  be  gone  and  betake  himself  back  to  his 
heathen  patron,  Baalis  the  Ammonite.  These  mas- 
sacres could  not  long  be  kept  a  secret.  And  yet 
Ishmael  seems  to  have  made  a  final  effort  to  suppress 
the  evidence  of  his  crimes.  In  his  retreat  he  carried 
with  him  all  the  people  left  in  Mizpah,  ''  soldiers, 
women,  children,  and  eunuchs,"  including  the  royal 
princesses,  and  apparently  Jeremiah  and  Baruch.  No 
doubt  he  hoped  to  make  money  out  of  his  prisoners  by 
selHng  them  as  slaves  or  holding  them  to  ransom.  He 
had  not  ventured  to  slay  Jeremiah:  the  prophet  had 
not  been  present  at  the  banquet  and  had  thus  escaped 
the  first  fierce  slaughter,  and  Ishmael  shrank  from 
killing  in  cold  blood  the  man  whose  predictions  of 
ruin  had  been  so  exactly  and  awfully  fulfilled  by  the 
recent  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

When  Johanan  ben  Kareah  and  the  other  captains 
heard  how  entirely  Ishmael  had  justified  their  warning, 
they  assembled  their  forces  and  started  in  pursuit. 
Ishmael's  band  seems  to  have  been  comparatively  small, 
and  was  moreover  encumbered  by  the  disproportionate 
number   of  captives  with    which    they    had    burdened 


xxxix.-xli.,  Hi.]  GEDALIAH  185 

themselves.  They  were  overtaken  '*  by  the  great 
waters  that  are  in  Gibeon,"  only  a  very  short  distance 
from  Mizpah. 

However  Ishmael's  original  following  of  ten  may 
have  been  reinforced,  his  band  cannot  have  been  very 
numerous  and  was  manifestly  inferior  to  Johanan's 
forces.  In  face  of  an  enemy  of  superior  strength, 
Ishmael's  only  chance  of  escape  was  to  leave  his 
prisoners  to  their  own  devices — he  had  not  even  time 
for  another  massacre.  The  captives  at  once  turned 
round  and  made  their  way  to  their  deliverer.  Ishmael's 
followers  seem  to  have  been  scattered,  taken  captive, 
or  slain,  but  he  himself  escaped  with  eight  men — 
possibly  eight  of  the  original  ten — and  found  refuge 
with  the  Ammonites. 

Johanan  and  his  companions  with  the  recovered 
captives  made  no  attempt  to  return  to  Mizpah.  The 
Chaldeans  would  exact  a  severe  penalty  for  the  murder 
of  their  governor  Gedaliah,  and  their  own  fellow- 
countryman  :  their  vengeance  was  not  likely  to  be 
scrupulously  discriminating.  The  massacre  would  be 
regarded  as  an  act  of  rebellion  on  the  part  of  the 
Jewish  community  in  Judah,  and  the  community  would 
be  punished  accordingly.  Johanan  and  his  whole 
company  determined  that  when  the  day  of  retribution 
came  the  Chaldeans  should  find  no  one  to  punish. 
They  set  out  for  Egypt,  the  natural  asylum  of  the 
enemies  of  Babylon.  On  the  way  they  halted  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Bethlehem  at  a  caravanserai  ^  which 
bore    the    name    of    Chimham,  ^    the    son    of    David's 

»  The  reading  is  doubtful ;  possibly  the  word  (geruth)  translated 
"caravanserai,"  or  some  similar  word  to  be  read  instead  of  it,  merely 
forms  a  compound  proper  name  with  Chimham. 

"^  2  Sam.  xix.  31-40. 


1 86  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

generous  friend  Barzillai.  So  far  the  fugitives  had 
acted  on  their  first  impulse  of  dismay ;  now  they 
paused  to  talce  breath,  to  make  a  more  deliberate 
survey  of  their  situation,  and  to  mature  their  plans  for 
the  future. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

THE  DESCENT  INTO  EGYPT 

xlii.,  xliii. 

"They  came   into  the   land    of  Egj'pt,   for   they  obeyed  not   the 
voice  of  Jehovah." — Jer.  xliii.  7. 

THUS  within  a  few  days  Jeremiah  had  experienced 
one  of  those  sudden  and  extreme  changes  of 
fortune  which  are  as  common  in  his  career  as  in  a 
sensational  novel.  Yesterday  the  guide,  philosopher, 
and  friend  of  the  governor  of  Judah,  to-day  sees  him 
once  more  a  helpless  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  his  old 
enemies.  To-morrow  he  is  restored  to  liberty  and 
authority,  and  appealed  to  by  the  remnant  of  Israel 
as  the  mouthpiece  of  Jehovah.  Johanan  ben  Kareah 
and  all  the  captains  of  the  forces,  ''  from  the  least  even 
unto  the  greatest,  came  near  "  and  besought  Jeremiah 
to  pray  unto  ^'Jehovah  thy  God,"-  ''that  Jehovah  thy 
God  may  show  us  the  way  wherein  we  may  walk,  and 
the  thing  we  may  do."  Jeremiah  promised  to  make 
intercession  and  to  declare  faithfully  unto  them  what- 
soever Jehovah  should  reveal  unto  him. 

And  they  on  their  part  said  unto  Jeremiah  :  "  Jehovah 
be  a  true  and  faithful  witness  against  us,  if  we  do  not 
according  to  every  word  that  Jehovah  thy  God  shall 
send  unto  us  by  thee.  We  will  obey  the  voice  of 
Jehovah    our    God,   to  whom    we    send   thee,   whether 

187 


THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


it  be  good  or  evil,  that  it  may  be  well  with  us,  when 
we  obey  the  voice  of  Jehovah  our  God." 

The  prophet  returned  no  hasty  answer  to  this 
solemn  appeal.  As  in  his  controversy  with  Hananiah, 
he  refrained  from  at  once  announcing  his  own  judg- 
ment as  the  Divine  decision,  but  waited  for  the  express 
confirmation  of  the  Spirit.  For  ten  days  prophet  and 
people  were  alike  kept  in  suspense.  The  patience  of 
Johanan  and  his  followers  is  striking  testimony  to 
their  sincere  reverence  for  Jeremiah. 

On  the  tenth  day  the  message  came,  and  Jeremiah 
called  the  people  together  to  hear  God's  answer  to 
their  question,  and  to  learn  that  Divine  will  to  which 
they  had  promised  unreserved  obedience.  It  ran 
thus : — 

"  If  you  will  still  abide  in  this  land, 
I  will  build  you  and  not  pull  you  down, 
I  will  plant  you  and  not  pluck  you  up." 

The  words  of  Jeremiah's  original  commission  seem 
ever  present  to  his  mind  : — 

"  For  I  repent  Me  of  the  evil  I  have  done  unto  you." 

They  need  not  flee  from  Judah  as  an  accursed  land ; 
Jehovah  had  a  new  and  gracious  purpose  concerning 
them,  and  therefore  : — 

"  Be  not  afraid  of  the  king  of  Babylon, 
Of  whom  ye  are  afraid; 

Be  not  afraid  of  him — it  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah — 
For  I  am  with  you, 

To  save  you  and  deliver  you  out  of  his  hand. 
I  will  put  kindness  in  his  heart  toward  you. 
And  he  shall  deal  kindly  with  you. 
And  restore  you  to  your  lands," 

It  was  premature  to  conclude  that  Ishmael's  crime 


xlii.,  xliii.]  THE  DESCENT  INTO  EGYPT  189 

finally  disposed  of  the  attempt  to  shape  the  remnant 
into  the  nucleus  of  a  new  Israel.  Hitherto  Nebuchad- 
nezzar had  shown  himself  willing  to  discriminate ; 
when  he  condemned  the  princes,  he  spared  and 
honoured  Jeremiah,  and  the  Chaldeans  might  still 
be  trusted  to  deal  fairly  and  even  generously  with 
the  prophet's  friends  and  deliverers.  Moreover  the 
heart  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  like  that  of  all  earthly 
potentates,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  King  of  Kings. 

But  Jeremiah  knew  too  well  what  mingled  hopes  and 
fears  drew  his  hearers  towards  the  fertile  valley  and 
rich  cities  of  the  Nile.  He  sets  before  them  the 
reverse  of  the  picture :  they  might  refuse  to  obey 
God's  command  to  remain  in  Judah  ;  they  might  say, 
*'  No,  we  will  go  into  the  land  of  Egypt,  where  we 
shall  see  no  war,  nor  hear  the  sound  of  the  trumpet, 
nor  hunger  for  bread,  and  there  will  we  dwell."  As 
of  old,  they  craved  for  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt;  and 
with  more  excuse  than  their  forefathers.  They  were 
worn  out  with  suffering  and  toil,  some  of  them  had 
wives  and  children  ;  the  childless  prophet  was  inviting 
them  to  make  sacrifices  and  incur  risks  which  he  could 
neither  share  nor  understand.  Can  we  wonder  if  they 
fell  short  of  his  inspired  heroism,  and  hesitated  to 
forego  the  ease  and  plenty  of  Egypt  in  order  to  try 
social  experiments  in  Judah  ? 

"  Let  what  is  broken  so  remain. 
The   Gods  are  hard  to  reconcile : 
'Tis  hard  to  settle  order  once  again. 

Sore  task  to  hearts  worn  out  by  many  wars." 

But  Jeremiah  had  neither  sympathy  nor  patience 
with  such  weakness.  Moreover,  now  as  often,  valour 
was   the    better   part   of    discretion,    and   the    boldest 


190  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

course  was  the  safest.  The  peace  and  security  of 
Egypt  had  been  broken  in  upon  again  and  again  by 
Asiatic  invaders ;  only  recently  it  had  been  tributary 
to  Nineveh,  till  the  failing  strength  of  Assyria  enabled 
the  Pharaohs  to  recover  their  independence.  Now  that 
Palestine  had  ceased  to  be  the  seat  of  war  the  sound 
of  Chaldean  trumpets  would  soon  be  heard  in  the 
valley  of  the  Nile.  By  going  down  into  Egypt,  they 
were  leaving  Judah  where  they  might  be  safe  under 
the  broad  shield  of  Babylonian  power,  for  a  country 
that  would  soon  be  afQicted  by  the  very  evils  they 
sought  to  escape  : — 

"  If  ye  finally  determine  to  go  to  Egypt  to  sojourn  there, 
The  sword,  which  ye  fear,  shall  overtake  you  there  in  the  land 

of  Egypt, 
The  famine,  whereof  ye  are  afraid,  shall  follow  hard  after  you 

there  in  Egypt, 
And  there  shall  ye  die." 

The  old  familiar  curses,  so  often  uttered  against 
Jerusalem  and  its  inhabitants,  are  pronounced  against 
any  of  his  hearers  who  should  take  refuge  in  Egypt : — 

"As   Mine   anger   and   fury  hath   been    poured   forth   upon    the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem, 
So  shall  My  fury   be   poured   forth    upon   you,  when  ye  shall 
enter  in  Egypt." 

They  would  die  *'  by  the  sword,  the  famine,  and  the 
pestilence " ;  they  would  be  "an  execration  and  an 
astonishment,  a  curse  and  a  reproach." 

He  had  set  before  them  two  alternative  courses,  and 
the  Divine  judgment  upon  each  :  he  had  known  before- 
hand that,  contrary  to  his  own  choice  and  judgment, 
their  hearts  were  set  upon  going  down  into  Egypt; 
hence,  as  when  confronted  and  contradicted  by 
Hananiah,    he    had    been    careful    to    secure    divine 


xlii.,  xliii.]  THE  DESCENT  INTO  EGYPT  191 

confirmation  before  he  gave  his  decision.  Already 
he  could  see  the  faces  of  his  hearers  hardening  into 
obstinate  resistance  or  kindling  into  hot  defiance ; 
probably  they  broke  out  into  interruptions  which  left 
no  doubt  as  to  their  purpose.  With  his  usual  prompt- 
ness, he  turned  upon  them  with  fierce  reproof  and 
denunciation  : — 

"Ye  have  been  traitors  to  yourselves. 
Ye  sent  me  unto  Jehovah  your  God,  saying, 
Pray  for  us  unto  Jehovah  our  God ; 
According  unto  all  that  Jehovah  our  God  shall  say, 
Declare  unto  us,  and  we  will  do  it. 
I  have  this  day  declared  it  unto  you. 
But  ye  have  in  no  wise  obeyed  the  voice  of  Jehovah  your  God. 

Ye  shall  die  by  the  sword,  the  famine,  and  the  pestilence. 
In  the  place  whither  ye  desire  to  go  to  sojourn." 

His  hearers  were  equally  prompt  with  their  rejoinder ; 
Johanan  ben  Kareah  and  **  all  the  proud  men  "  answered 
him  : — 

^'  Thou  liest !  It  is  not  Jehovah  our  God  who  hath 
sent  thee  to  say,  Ye  shall  not  go  into  Egypt  to  sojourn 
there;  but  Baruch  ben  Neriah  setteth  thee  on  against 
us,  to  deliver  us  into  the  hand  of  the  Chaldeans,  that 
they  may  slay  us  or  carry  us  away  captive  to  Babylon." 

Jeremiah  had  experienced  many  strange  vicissitudes, 
but  this  was  not  the  least  striking.  Ten  days  ago 
the  people  and  their  leaders  had  approached  him  in 
reverent  submission,  and  had  solemnly  promised  to 
accept  and  obey  his  decision  as  the  word  of  God.  Now 
they  called  him  a  Har;  they  asserted  that  he  did  not 
speak  by  any  Divine  inspiration,  but  was  a  feeble 
impostor,  an  oracular  puppet,  whose  strings  were  pulled 
by  his  own  disciple.-^ 

*  Cf.  chapter  on  "  Baruch." 


192  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Such  scenes  are,  unfortunately,  only  too  common  in 
Church  history.  Religious  professors  are  still  ready 
to  abuse  and  to  impute  unworthy  motives  to  prophets 
whose  messages  they  dislike,  in  a  spirit  not  less  secular 
than  that  which  is  shown  when  some  modern  football 
team  tries  to  mob  the  referee  who  has  given  a  decision 
against  its  hopes. 

Moreover  we  must  not  unduly  emphasise  the  solemn 
engagement  given  by  the  Jews  to  abide  Jeremiah's 
decision.  They  were  probably  sincere,  but  not  very 
much  in  earnest.  The  proceedings  and  the  strong 
formulae  used  were  largely  conventional.  Ancient 
kings  and  generals  regularly  sought  the  approval  of 
their  prophets  or  augurs  before  taking  any  important 
step,  but  they  did  not  always  act  upon  their  advice. 
The  final  breach  between  Saul  and  the  prophet  Samuel 
seems  to  have  been  due  to  the  fact  that  the  king  did 
not  wait  for  his  presence  and  counsel  before  engaging 
the  Phihstines.^  Before  the  disastrous  expedition  to 
Ramoth  Gilead,  Jehoshaphat  insisted  on  consulting  a 
prophet  of  Jehovah,  and  then  acted  in  the  teeth  of 
his  inspired  warning.^ 

Johanan  and  his  company  felt  it  essential  to  consult 
some  divine  oracle ;  and  Jeremiah  was  not  only  the 
greatest  prophet  of  Jehovah,  he  was  also  the  only 
prophet  available.  They  must  have  known  from  his 
consistent  denunciation  of  all  alliance  with  Egypt  that 
his  views  were  likely  to  be  at  variance  with  their  own. 
But  they  were  consulting  Jehovah — Jeremiah  was  only 
His  mouthpiece  ;  hitherto  He  had  set  His  face  against 
any  dealings  with  Egypt,  but  circumstances  were 
entirely  changed,  and  Jehovah's  purpose  might  change 

'    I  Sam.  xiii.  *  j  Kings  xxii. 


xlii.,  xliii.]  THE  DESCENT  INTO  EGYPT  193 


with  them,  He  might  "repent."  They  promised  to 
obey,  because  there  was  at  any  rate  a  chance  that 
God's  commands  would  coincide  with  their  own  inten- 
tions. Butler's  remark  that  men  may  be  expected  to 
act  "not  only  upon  an  even  chance,  but  upon  much 
less,"  specially  applies  to  such  promises  as  the  Jews 
made  to  Jeremiah.  Certain  tacit  conditions  may  always 
be  considered  attached  to  a  profession  of  willingness 
to  be  guided  by  a  friend's  advice.  Our  newspapers 
frequently  record  breaches  of  engagements  that  should 
be  as  binding  as  that  entered  into  by  Johanan  and  his 
friends,  and  they  do  so  without  any  special  comment. 
For  instance,  the  verdicts  of  arbitrators  in  trade  disputes 
have  been  too  often  ignored  by  the  unsuccessful  parties ; 
and — to  take  a  very  different  illustration — the  most 
unlimited  professions  of  faith  in  the  infaUibihty  of  the 
Bible  have  sometimes  gone  along  with  a  denial  of  its 
plain  teaching  and  a  disregard  of  its  imperative  com- 
mands. While  Shylock  expected  a  favourable  decision, 
Portia  was  ''  a  Daniel  come  to  judgment "  :  his  subse- 
quent opinion  of  her  judicial  qualities  has  not  been 
recorded.  Those  who  have  never  refused  or  evaded 
unwelcome  demands  made  by  an  authority  whom  they 
have  promised  to  obey  may  cast  the  first  stone  at  Johanan. 
After  the  scene  we  have  been  describing,  the  refugees 
set  out  for  Egypt,  carrying  with  them  the  princesses 
and  Jeremiah  and  Baruch.  They  were  following  in 
the  footsteps  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  of  Jeroboam 
and  many  another  Jew  who  had  sought  protection 
under  the  shadow  of  Pharaoh.  They  were  the  fore- 
runners of  that  later  Israel  in  Egypt  which,  through 
Philo  and  his  disciples,  exercised  so  powerful  an 
influence  on  the  doctrine,  criticism,  and  exegesis  of 
the  early  Christian  Church. 

13 


194  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Yet  this  exodus  in  the  wrong  direction  was  by  no 
means  complete.  Four  years  later  Nebuzaradan  could 
still  find  seven  hundred  and  forty-five  Jews  to  carry 
away  to  Babylon/  Johanan's  movements  had  been 
too  hurried  to  admit  of  his  gathering  in  the  inhabitants 
of  outlying  districts. 

When  Johanan's  company  reached  the  frontier,  they 
would  find  the  Egyptian  officials  prepared  to  receive 
them.  During  the  last  few  months  there  must  have 
been  constant  arrivals  of  Jewish  refugees,  and  rumour 
must  have  announced  the  approach  of  so  large  a 
company,  consisting  of  almost  all  the  Jews  left  in 
Palestine.  The  very  circumstances  that  made  them 
dread  the  vengeance  of  Nebuchadnezzar  would  ensure 
them  a  hearty  welcome  in  Egypt.  Their  presence 
was  an  unmistakable  proof  of  the  entire  failure  of  the 
attempt  to  create  in  Judah  a  docile  and  contented 
dependency  and  outpost  of  the  Chaldean  Empire. 
They  were  accordingly  settled  at  Tahpanhes  and  in 
the  surrounding  district. 

But  no  welcome  could  conciHate  Jeremiah's  implacable 
temper,  nor  could  all  the  splendour  of  Egypt  tame  his 
indomitable  spirit.  Amongst  his  fellow-countrymen  at 
Bethlehem,  he  had  foretold  the  coming  tribulations  of 
Egypt.  He  now  renewed  his  predictions  within  the 
very  precincts  of  Pharaoh's  palace,  and  enforced  them 
by  a  striking  symbol.  At  Tahpanhes — the  modern 
Tell  Defenneh — which  was  the  ancient  Egyptian 
frontier  fortress  and  settlement  on  the  more  westerly 
route  from  Syria,  "  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to 
Jeremiah,  saying.  Take  great  stones  in  thine  hand,  and 
hide  them  in  mortar  in  the  brick  pavement,  at  the  entry 
of  Pharaoh's  palace  in  Tahpanhes,  in  the  presence  of 

'  lii.  30. 


xlii.,xliii.]  THE  DESCENT  INTO  EGYPT  195 

the  men  of  Judah;  and  say  unto  them^  Thus  saith 
,  Jehovah  Sabaoth,  the  God  of  Israel  : — 

"Behold,  I  will  send  and  take  My  servant  Nebuchadnezzar  king 
of  Babylon  : 
I  will  set  his  throne  upon  these  stones  which  I  have  hid, 
And  he  shall  spread  his  state  pavilion  over  them." 

He  would  set  up  his  royal  tribunal,  and  decide  the 
fate  of  the  conquered  city  and  its  inhabitants. 

"  He  shall  come  and  smite  the  land  of  Egypt  ; 
Such  as  are  for  death  shall  be  put  to  death, 
Such  as  are  for  captivity  shall  be  sent  into  captivity, 
Such  as  are  for  the  sword  shall  be  slain  by  the  sword. 
I  will  kindle  a  fire  in  the  temples  of  the  gods  of  Egypt ; 
He  shall  burn  their  temples,   and  carry  them  away  captive : 
He  shall  array  himself  with  the  land  of  Egypt, 
As  a  shepherd  putteth  on  his  garment." 

The  whole  country  would  become  a  mere  mantle  for  his 
dignity,  a  comparatively  insignificant  part  of  his  vast  pos- 
sessions. 

"He  shall  go  forth  from  thence  in  peace." 

A  campaign  that  promised  well  at  the  beginning  has 
often  ended  in  despair,  like  Sennacherib's  attack  on 
Judah,  and  Pharaoh  Necho's  expedition  to  Carchemish. 
The  invading  army  has  been  exhausted  by  its  victories, 
or  wasted  by  disease  and  compelled  to  beat  an  in- 
glorious retreat.  No  such  misfortunes  should  overtake 
the  Chaldean  king.  He  would  depart  with  all  his 
spoil,  leaving  Egypt  behind  him  subdued  into  a  loyal 
province  of  his  empire. 

Then   the   prophet   adds,    apparently    as   a  kind   of 
afterthought : — 

"  He  also  shall  break  the  obelisks  of  Heliopolis,  in  the  land  of  Egypt " 

(so  Styled  to  distinguish  this  Beth-Shemesh  from  Beth- 
Shemesh  in  Palestine), 

"And  shall  burn  with  fire  the  temples  of  the  gods  of  Egypt." 


196  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

The  performance  of  this  symbolic  act  and  the 
deliver}'  of  its  accompanying  message  are  not  recorded, 
but  Jeremiah  would  not  fail  to  make  known  the  divine 
word  to  his  fellow-countr3'men.  It  is  difficult  to 
understand  how  the  exiled  prophet  would  be  allowed 
to  assemble  the  Jews  in  front  of  the  main  entrance  of 
the  palace,  and  hide  ''  great  stones  "  in  the  pavement. 
Possibly  the  palace  was  being  repaired,^  or  the  stones 
might  be  inserted  under  the  front  or  side  of  a  raised 
platformi,  or  possibly  the  S3'mbolic  act  was  only  to  be 
described  and  not  performed.  Mr.  Flinders  Petrie 
recently  discovered  at  Tell  Defenneh  a  large  brickwork 
pavement,  with  great  stones  buried  underneath,  which 
he  supposed  might  be  those  mentioned  in  our  narrative. 
He  also  found  there  another  {possible  relic  of  these 
Jewish  emigres  in  the  shape  of  the  ruins  of  a  large 
brick  building  of  the  twenty-sixth  d3'nasty — to  which 
Pharaoh  Hophra  belonged — still  known  as  the  "  Palace 
of  the  Jew's  Daughter."  It  is  a  natural  and  attractive 
conjecture  that  this  was  the  residence  assigned  to  the 
Jewish  princesses  whom  Johanan  carried  with  him 
into  Eg3'pt. 

But  while  the  ruined  palace  ma}'  testify  to  Pharaoh's 
generosit3^  to  the  Royal  House  that  had  suffered 
through  its  alliance  with  him,  the  "  great  stones " 
remind  us  that,  after  a  brief  interval  of  sympathy  and 
co-operation,  Jeremiah  again  found  himself  in  bitter 
antagonism  to  his  fellow-countr3'men.  In  our  next 
chapter  we  shall  describe  one  final  scene  of  mutual 
recrimination.^ 


'  So  Orelli,   in  loco. 

^  For  the  prophecy  against  Egypt  and   its  fulfilment   see  further 
chapter  XVII. 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE  QUEEN  OF  HEAVEN 

xliv. 

"  Since  we  left  off  burning  incense  and  offering  libations  to  the 
Queen  of  Heaven,  we  have  been  in  want  of  everything,  and  have 
been  consumed  by  the  sword  and  the  famine." — Jer.  xliv.   i8. 

THE  Jewish  exiles  in  Egypt  still  retained  a  sem- 
blance of  national  life,  and  were  bound  together 
by  old  religious  ties.  Accordingly  we  read  that  they 
came  together  from  their  different  settlements — from 
Migdol  and  Tahpanhes  on  the  north-eastern  frontier, 
from  Noph  or  Memphis  on  the  Nile  south  of  the  site  of 
Cairo,  and  from  Pathros  or  Upper  Egypt — to  a  "  great 
assembly,"  no  doubt  a  religious  festival.  The  list  of 
cities  shows  how  widely  the  Jews  were  scattered 
throughout  Egypt. 

Nothing  is  said  as  to  where  and  when  this  ''  great 
assembly  "  met ;  but  for  Jeremiah,  such  a  gathering  at 
all  times  and  anywhere,  in  Egypt  as  at  Jerusalem, 
became  an  opportunity  for  fulfilling  his  Divine  com- 
mission. He  once  again  confronted  his  fellow-country- 
men with  the  familiar  threats  and  exhortations.  A  new 
cHmate  had  not  created  in  them  either  clean  hearts  or 
a  right  spirit. 

Recent  history  had  added  force  to  his  warnings. 
He  begins  therefore   by  appealing  to  the  direful  con- 

197 


198  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


sequences  which  had  come  upon  the  Holy  Land, 
through  the  sins  of  its  inhabitants  : — 

"  Ye  have  seen  'all  the  evil  that  I  have  brought  upon  Jerusalem, 

and  upon  all  the  cities  of  Judah. 
Behold,  this  day  they  are  an  uninhabited  waste, 
Because  of  their  wickedness  which  they  wrought  to  provoke 

Me  to  anger, 
By  going  to  burn  incense  and  to  serve  other  gods  whom  neither 

they  nor  their  fathers  knew." 

The  IsraeHtes  had  enjoyed  for  centuries  intimate 
personal  relations  with  Jehovah,  and  knew  Him  by  this 
ancient  and  close  fellowship  and  by  all  His  dealings 
with  them.  They  had  no  such  knowledge  of  the  gods 
of  surrounding  nations.  The}^  were  like  foolish  children 
w^ho  prefer  the  enticing  blandishments  of  a  stranger 
to  the  affection  and  discipline  of  their  home.  Such 
children  do  not  intend  to  forsake  their  home  or  to  break 
the  bonds  of  filial  affection,  and  yet  the  new  friendship 
may  wean  their  hearts  from  their  father.  So  these 
exiles  still  considered  themselves  worshippers  of 
Jehovah,  and  yet  their  superstition  led  them  to  disobey 
and  dishonour  Him. 

Before  its  ruin,  Judah  had  sinned  against  light  and 
leading  : — 

"  Howbeit  I  sent  unto  you  all  My  servants  the  prophets. 
Rising  up  early  and  sending  them,  saying. 
Oh  do  not  this  abominable  thing  that  I  hate. 
But  they  hearkened  not,  nor  inclined  their  ears,  so  as  to  turn 

from  their  evil. 
That  they  should  not  burn  incense  to  other  gods. 
Wherefore  My  fury  and  My  anger  was  poured  forth." 

Political  and  social  questions,  the  controversies  with 
the  prophets  who  contradicted  Jeremiah  in  the  name  of 
Jehovah,  have  fallen  into  the,  background;  the  poor 
pretence  of  loyalty  to   Jehovah  which  permitted   His 


xliv.]  THE  QUEEN  OF  HEAVEN  199 

worshippers  to  degrade  Him  to  the  level  of  Baal  and 
Moloch  is  ignored  as  worthless  :  and  Jeremiah,  like 
Ezekiel,  finds  the  root  of  the  people's  sin  in  their 
desertion  of  Jehovah.  Their  real  religion  was  revealed 
by  their  heathenish  superstitions.  Every  religious  life 
is  woven  of  many  diverse  strands ;  if  the  web  as  a  whole 
is  rotten,  the  Great  Taskmaster  can  take  no  account  of 
a  few  threads  that  have  a  form  and  profession  of 
soundness.  Our  Lord  declared  that  He  would  utterly 
ignore  and  repudiate  men  upon  whose  lips  His  name 
was  a  too  familiar  word,  who  had  preached  and  cast 
out  devils  and  done  many  mighty  works  in  that  Holy 
Name.  These  were  men  who  had  worked  iniquity,  who 
had  combined  promising  externals  with  the  worship  of 
'^  other  gods,"  Mammon  or  Belial  or  some  other  of 
those  evil  powers,  who  place 

"  Within  His  sanctuary  itself  their  shrines, 
Abominations  ;  and  with  cursed  things 
His  holy  rites  and  solemn  feasts  profane  ; 
^nd  with  their  darkness  dare  affront  His  light." 

This  profane  blending  of  idolatry  with  a  profession 
of  zeal  for  Jehovah  had  provoked  the  divine  wrath 
against  Judah  :  and  yet  the  exiles  had  not  profited  by 
their  terrible  experience  of  the  consequences  of  sin  ; 
they  still  burnt  incense  unto  other  gods.  Therefore 
Jeremiah  remonstrates  with  them  afresh,  and  sets 
before  their  eyes  the  utter  ruin  which  will  punish 
persistent  sin.  This  discourse  repeats  and  enlarges 
the  threats  uttered  at  Bethlehem.  The  penalties  then 
denounced  on  disobedience  are  now  attributed  to 
idolatry.  We  have  here  yet  another  example  of  the 
tacit  understanding  attaching  to  all  the  prophet's  pre- 
dictions. The  most  positive  declarations  of  doom  are 
often  warnings  and  not  final  sentences.     Jehovah  does 


THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


not  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the  penitent,  and  the  doom  is 
executed  not  because  He  exacts  the  uttermost  farthing, 
but  because  the  culprit  perseveres  in  his  uttermost 
wrong.  Lack  of  faith  and  loyalty  at  Bethlehem  and 
idolatry  in  Egypt  were  both  symptoms  of  the  same 
deep-rooted  disease. 

On  this  occasion  there  was  no  rival  prophet  to  beard 
Jeremiah  and  relieve  his  hearers  from  their  fears  and 
scruples.  Probably  indeed  no  professed  prophet  of 
Jehovah  would  have  cared  to  defend  the  worship  of 
other  gods.  But,  as  at  Bethlehem,  the  people  them- 
selves ventured  to  defy  their  aged  mentor.  They  seem 
to  have  been  provoked  to  such  hardihood  by  a  stimulus 
which  often  prompts  timorous  men  to  bold  words. 
Their  wives  were  specially  devoted  to  the  superstitious 
burning  of  incense,  and  these  women  were  present  in 
large  numbers.  Probably,  like  Lady  Macbeth,  they 
had  already  in  private 

"  Poured  their  spirits  in  their  husbands'  ears, 
And  chastised,  with  the  valour  of  their  tongues. 
All  that  impeded" 

those  husbands  from  speaking  their  minds  to  Jeremiah. 
In  their  presence,  the  men  dared  not  shirk  an  obvious 
duty,  for  fear  of  more  domestic  chastisement.  The 
prophet's  reproaches  would  be  less  intolerable  than 
such  inflictions.  Moreover  the  fair  devotees  did  not 
hesitate  to  mingle  their  own  shrill  voices  in  the  wordy 
strife. 

These  idolatrous  Jews — male  and  female — carried 
things  with  a  very  high  hand  indeed : — 

"We  will  not  obey  thee  in  that  which  thou  hast 
spoken  unto  us  in  the  name  of  Jehovah.  We  are 
determined  to  perform  all  the  vows  we  have  made  to 


xliv.]  THE  QUEEN  OF  HEAVEN  201 

burn  incense  and  offer  libations  to  tlie  Queen  of 
Heaven,  exactly  as  we  have  said  and  as  we  and  our 
fathers  and  kings  and  princes  did  in  the  cities  of  Judah 
and  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem."  ^ 

Moreover  they  were  quite  prepared  to  meet  Jeremiah 
on  his  own  ground  and  argue  with  him  according  to 
his  own  principles  and  methods.  He  had  appealed 
to  the  ruin  of  Judah  as  a  proof  of  Jehovah's  condemna- 
tion of  their  idolatry  and  of  His  power  to  punish : 
they  argued  that  these  misfortunes  were  a  divine 
sprdce  injuria  formcBy  the  vengeance  of  the  Queen  of 
Heaven,  whose  worship  they  had  neglected.  When 
they  duly  honoured  her, — 

'*  Then  had  we  plenty  of  victuals,  and  were  prosperous 
and  saw  no  evil ;  but  since  we  left  off  burning  incense 
and  offering  Hbations  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  we 
have  been  in  want  of  everything,  and  have  been 
consumed  by  the  sword  and  the  famine." 

Moreover  the  women  had  a  special  plea  of  their 
own  : — 

''  When  we  burned  incense  and  offered  libations  to 
the  Queen  of  Heaven,  did  we  not  make  cakes  to 
symboHse  her  and  offer  libations  to  her  with  our 
husbands'  permission  ?  " 

A  wife's  vows  were  not  valid  without  her  husband's 
sanction,  and  the  women  avail  themselves  of  this 
principle  to  shift  the  responsibility  for  their  superstition 
on  the  men's  shoulders.  Possibly  too  the  unfortunate 
Benedicts  were  not  displaying  sufficient  zeal  in  the 
good  cause,  and  these  words  were  intended  to  goad 
them  into  greater  energy.  Doubtless  they  cannot  be 
entirely  exonerated  of  blame  for  tolerating  their  wives* 

'  Combined  from  verses  16,  17,  and  25. 


202  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

sins,  probably  they  were  guilty  of  participation  as  well 
as  connivance.  Nothing  however  but  the  utmost 
determination  and  moral  courage  would  have  curbed 
the  exuberant  religiosity  of  these  devout  ladies.  The 
prompt  suggestion  that,  if  they  have  done  wrong,  their 
husbands  are  to  blame  for  letting  them  have  their  own 
way,  is  an  instance  of  the  meanness  which  results  from 
the  worship  of  '*  other  gods." 

But  these  defiant  speeches  raise  a  more  important 
question.  There  is  an  essential  difference  between 
regarding  a  national  catastrophe  as  a  divine  judgment 
and  the  crude  superstition  to  which  an  eclipse  expresses 
the  resentment  of  an  angry  god.  But  both  involve 
the  same  practical  uncertainty.  The  sufferers  or  the 
spectators  ask  what  god  wrought  these  marvels  and 
what  sins  they  are  intended  to  punish,  and  to  these 
questions  neither  catastrophe  nor  eclipse  gives  any 
certain  answer. 

Doubtless  the  altars  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven  had 
been  destroyed  by  Josiah  in  his  crusade  against 
heathen  cults ;  but  her  outraged  majesty  had  been 
speedily  avenged  by  the  defeat  and  death  of  the 
iconoclast,  and  since  then  the  history  of  Judah  had 
been  one  long  series  of  disasters.  Jeremiah  declared 
that  these  were  the  just  retribution  inflicted  by  Jehovah 
because  Judah  had  been  disloyal  to  Him  ;  in  the  reign 
of  Manasseh  their  sin  had  reached  its  climax  : — 

*'  I  will  cause  them  to  be  tossed  to  and  fro  among  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  because  of  Manasseh  ben 
Hezekiah,  king  of  Judah,  for  that  which  he  did  in 
Jerusalem."  ^ 

His  audience  were  equally  positive  that  the  national 


xliv.]  THE   QUEEN  OF  HEAVEN  203 

ruin  was  the  vengeance  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven. 
Josiah  had  destroyed  her  altars,  and  now  the  wor- 
shippers of  Istar  had  retaliated  by  razing  the  Temple 
to  the  ground.  A  Jew,  with  the  vague  impression  that 
Istar  was  as  real  as  Jehovah,  might  find  it  difficult  to 
decide  between  these  conflicting  theories. 

To  us,  as  to  Jeremiah,  it  seems  sheer  nonsense  to 
speak  of  the  vengeance  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  not 
because  of  what  we  deduce  from  the  circumstances  of 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  but  because  we  do  not  beheve  in 
any  such  deity.  But  the  fallacy  is  repeated  when,  in 
somewhat  similar  fashion,  Protestants  find  proof  of  the 
superiority  of  their  faith  in  the  contrast  between  Eng- 
land and  Catholic  Spain,  while  Romanists  draw  the 
opposite  conclusion  from  a  comparison  of  Holland  and 
Belgium.  In  all  such  cases  the  assured  truth  of  the 
disputant's  doctrine,  which  is  set  forth  as  the  result  of 
his  argument,  is  in  reality  the  premiss  upon  which  his 
reasoning  rests.  Faith  is  not  deduced  from,  but  dic- 
tates an  interpretation  of  history.  In  an  individual 
the  material  penalties  of  sin  may  arouse  a  sleeping 
conscience,  but  they  cannot  create  a  moral  sense  : 
apart  from  a  moral  sense  the  discipline  of  rewards  and 
punishments  would  be  futile  : — 

"  Were  no  inner  eye  in  us  to  tell, 
Instructed  by  no  inner  sense, 
The  light  of  heaven  from  the  dark  of  hell, 
That  light  would  want  its  evidence.'' 

Jeremiah,  therefore,  is  quite  consistent  in  refraining 
from  argument  and  replying  to  his  opponents  by  re- 
iterating his  former  statements  that  sin  against  Jehovah 
had  ruined  Judah  and  would  yet  ruin  the  exiles.  He 
spoke  on  the  authority  of  the  "  inner  sense,"  itself 
instructed    by  Revelation.     But,  after  the  manner  of 


204  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

the  prophets,  he  gave  them  a  sign — Pharaoh  Hophra 
should  be  delivered  into  the  hand  of  his  enemies  as 
Zedekiah  had  been.  Such  an  event  would  indeed  be 
an  unmistakable  sign  of  imminent  calamity  to  the 
fugitives  who  had  sought  the  protection  of  the  Egyptian 
king  against  Nebuchadnezzar.^ 

We  have  reserved  for  separate  treatment  the  ques- 
tions suggested  by  the  references  to  the  Queen  of 
Heaven.^  This  divine  name  only  occurs  again  in  the 
Old  Testament  in  vii.  i8,  and  we  are  startled,  at  first 
sight,  to  discover  that  a  cult  about  which  all  other 
historians  and  prophets  have  been  entirely  silent  is 
described  in  these  passages  as  an  ancient  and  national 
worship.  It  is  even  possible  that  the  "  great  as- 
sembly "  was  a  festival  in  her  honour.  We  have 
again  to  remind  ourselves  that  the  Old  Testament  is 
an  account  of  the  progress  of  Revelation  and  not  a 
History  of  Israel.  Probably  the  true  explanation  is 
that  given  by  Kuenen.  The  prophets  do  not,  as  a 
rule,  speak  of  the  details  of  false  worship ;  they  use  the 
generic  ''  Baal  "  and  the  collective  "  other  gods."  Even 
in  this  chapter  Jeremiah  begins  by  speaking  of  *^  other 
gods,"  and  only  uses  the  term  *'  Queen  of  Heaven  " 
when  he  quotes  the  reply  made  to  him  by  the  Jews. 
Similarly   when    Ezekiel   goes   into   detail   concerning 


'  As  to  the  fulfilment  of  this  prophecy  see  Chap.  XVII. 

2  MELEKHETH  HASHSHAMAYIM.  The  Masoretic  pointing 
seems  to  indicate  a  rendering  "  service  "  or  work  of  heaven,  probably 
in  the  sense  of  "  host  of  heaven,"  i.e.  the  stars,  JID^P  being  written 
defectively  for  DD^^P,  but  this  translation  is  now  pretty  generally 
abandoned.  Cf.  C.  J.  Ball,  Giesebrecht,  Orelli,  Cheyne,  etc.,  on  vii.  l8, 
and  especially  Kuenen's  treatise  on  the  Queen  of  Heaven — in  the 
Gesammelte  Abhandlungcn,  translated  by  Budde — to  which  this  section 
is  largely  indebted. 


xliv.]  THE   QUEEN  OF  HEAVEN  205 


idolatry^  he  mentions  cults  and  rituaP  which  do  not 
occur  elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  prophets 
were  little  inclined  to  discriminate  between  different 
forms  of  idolatry,  just  as  the  average  churchman  is 
quite  indifferent  to  the  distinctions  of  the  various 
Nonconformist  bodies,  which  are  to  him  simply  "  dis- 
senters." One  might  read  many  volumes  of  Anglican 
sermons  and  even  some  English  Church  History 
without  meeting  with  the  term   Unitarian. 

It  is  easy  to  find  modern  parallels — Christian  and 
heathen — to  the  name  of  this  goddess.  The  Virgin 
Mary  is  honoured  with  the  title  Rcgina  Cceli,  and  at 
Mukden,  the  Sacred  City  of  China,  there  is  a  temple  to 
the  Queen  of  Heaven.  But  it  is  not  easy  to  identify 
the  ancient  deity  who  bore  this  name.  The  Jews  are 
accused  elsewhere  of  worshipping  "  the  sun  and  the 
moon  and  all  the  host  of  heaven,"  and  one  or  other  of 
these  heavenly  bodies — mostly  either  the  moon  or  the 
planet  Venus — has  been  supposed  to  have  been  the 
Queen  of  Heaven. 

Neither  do  the  symbolic  cakes  help  us.  Such  emblems 
are  found  in  the  ritual  of  many  ancient  cults:  at 
Athens  cakes  called  o-eXrjvat  and  shaped  like  a  full- 
moon  were  offered  to  the  moon-goddess  Artemis;  a 
similar  usage  seems  to  have  prevailed  in  the  worship 
of  the  Arabian  goddess  Al-Uzza,  whose  star  was  Venus, 
and  also  in  connection  with  the  worship  of  the  sun.^ 

Moreover  we  do  not  find  the  title  ^*  Queen  of 
Heaven "  as  an  ordinary  and  well-established  name 
of  any  neighbouring  divinity.  "  Queen  "  is  a  natural 
title  for  any  goddess,  and  was  actually  given  to  many 

•  Ezek.  viii. 

^  The  worship  of  Tammii;^  and  of  "creeping  things  and  al)Oininal)le 
beasts  "  etc.  '■^   Kucncn,  208, 


2o6  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

ancient  deities.  Schrader^  finds  our  goddess  in  the 
Atar-samain  (Athar-Astarte)  who  is  mentioned  in  the 
Assyrian  ascriptions  as  worshipped  by  a  North  Arabian 
tribe  of  Kedarenes.  Possibly  too  the  Assyrian  I  star  is 
called  Queen  of  Heaven.^ 

Istar,  however,  is  connected  with  the  moon  as  well 
as  with  the  planet  Venus.^  For  the  present  there- 
fore we  must  be  content  to  leave  the  matter  an  open 
question,*  but  any  day  some  new  discovery  may  solve 
the  problem.  Meanwhile  it  is  interesting  to  notice 
how  little  religious  ideas  and  practices  are  affected  by 
differences  in  profession.  St.  Isaac  the  Great,  of 
Antioch,  who  died  about  a.d.  460,  tells  us  that  the 
Christian  ladies  of  Syria — whom  he  speaks  of  very 
ungallantly  as  ''  fools  " — used  to  worship  the  planet 
Venus  from  the  roofs  of  their  houses,  in  the  hope  that 
she  would  bestow  upon  them  some  portion  of  her  own 
brightness  and  beauty.  This  experience  naturally  led 
St.  Isaac  to  interpret  the  Queen  of  Heaven  as  the 
luminary  which  his  countrywomen  venerated.^ 

The  episode  of  the  *'  great  assembly "  closes  the 
history  of  Jeremiah's  life.  We  leave  him  (as  we  so 
often  met  with  him  before)  hurling  ineffective  denuncia- 
tions at  a  recalcitrant  audience.  Vagrant  fancy,  hold- 
ing this  to  be  a  lame  and  impotent  conclusion,  has 
woven  romantic  stories  to  continue  and  complete  the 
narrative.  There  are  traditions  that  he  was  stoned  to 
death  at  Tahpanhes,  and  that  his  bones  were  removed 


'  Schrader  (Whitehouse's  translation),  ii.  207. 
2  Kuenen,  206. 

^  Sayce,  Higher  Cn'ticism,  etc.,  80, 

*  So  Giesebrecht  on  vii.   18.     Kuenen  argues  for  the  identification 
of  the  Queen  of  Heaven  with  the  planet  Venus. 
5  Kuenen,  211. 


xliv.]  THE  QUEEN  OF  HEAVEN  207 

to  Alexandria  by  Alexander  the  Great ;  that  he  and 
Baruch  returned  to  Judea  or  went  to  Babylon  and 
died  in  peace ;  that  he  returned  to  Jerusalem  and 
lived  there  three  hundred  years, — and  other  such 
legends.  As  has  been  said  concerning  the  Apocryphal 
Gospels,  these  narratives  serve  as  a  foil  to  the  his- 
tory they  are  meant  to  supplement  :  they  remind  us 
of  the  sequels  of  great  novels  written  by  inferior 
pens,  or  of  attempts  made  by  clumsy  mechanics  to  con- 
vert a  bust  by  some  inspired  sculptor  into  a  full-length 
statue. 

For  this  story  of  Jeremiah's  life  is  not  a  torso. 
Sacred  biography  constantly  disappoints  our  curiosity 
as  to  the  last  days  of  holy  men.  We  are  scarcely  ever 
told  how  prophets  and  apostles  died.  It  is  curious 
too  that  the  great  exceptions — Elijah  in  his  chariot 
of  fire  and  Elisha  dying  quietly  in  his  bed — occur  be- 
fore the  period  of  written  prophecy.  The  deaths  of 
Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  Ezekiel,  Peter,  Paul,  and  John, 
are  passed  over  in  the  Sacred  Record,  and  when  we 
seek  to  follow  them  beyond  its  pages,  we  are  taught 
afresh  the  unique  wisdom  of  inspiration.  If  we  may 
understand  Deuteronomy  xxxiv.  to  imply  that  no  eye 
was  permitted  to  behold  Moses  in  the  hour  of  death, 
we  have  in  this  incident  a  type  of  the  reticence  of 
Scripture  on  such  matters.  Moreover  a  moment's 
reflection  reminds  us  that  the  inspired  method  is  in 
accordance  with  the  better  instincts  of  our  nature.  A 
death  in  opening  manhood,  or  the  death  of  a  soldier  in 
battle  or  of  a  martyr  at  the  stake,  rivets  our  attention ; 
but  when  men  die  in  a  good  old  age,  we  dwell  less 
on  their  declining  years  than  on  the  achievements  of 
their  prime.  We  all  remember  the  martyrdoms,  of 
Huss  and  Latimer,   but  how  many  of  those  in  whose 


2o8  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

mouths  Calvin  and  Luther  are   familiar  as  household 
words  know  how  those  great  Reformers  died  ? 

There  comes  a  time  when  we  may  apply  to  the  aged 
saint  the  words  of  Browning's  Death  in  the  Desert : — 

"So  is  myself  withdrawn  into  my  depths, 
The  soul  retreated  from  the  perished  brain 
Whence  it  was  wont  to  feel  and  use  the  world 
Through  these  dull  members,  done  with  long  ago." 

And  the  poet's  comparison  of  this  soul  to 

"  A  stick  once  fire  from  end  to  end ; 
Now,   ashes  save  the  tip   that  holds  a  spark." 

Love  craves  to  watch  to  the  last,  because  the  spark  may 

"Run  back,   spread   itself 
A  little  where  the  fire  was,  .   .  . 
And  we  would   not  lose 
The  last  of  what  might  happen  on   his  face." 

Such  privileges  may  be  granted  to  a  few  chosen 
disciples,  probably  they  were  in  this  case  granted  to 
Baruch  ;  but  they  are  mostly  v/ithheld  from  the  world, 
lest  blind  irreverence  should  see  in  the  aged  saint 
nothing  but 

"  Second  childishness,  and  mere  oblivion ; 
Sans  teeth,   sans  eyes,   sans  taste,  sans  everything." 


BOOK    II 

PROPHECIES    CONCERNING    FOREIGN 
NATIONS 


209  14 


CHAPTER   XVI 

JEHOVAH  AND   THE  NATIONS 

XXV.  15-38. 

"Jehovah  hath  a  controversy  with  the  nations." — Jer.  xxv.  31. 

AS  the  son  of  a  king  only  learns  very  gradually  that 
his  father's  authority  and  activity  extend  beyond 
the  family  and  the  household,  so  Israel  in  its  childhood 
thought  of  Jehovah  as  exclusively  concerned  with 
itself. 

Such  ideas  as  omnipotence  and  universal  Providence 
did  not  exist ;  therefore  they  could  not  be  denied  ;  and 
the  limitations  of  the  national  faith  were  not  essentially 
inconsistent  with  later  Revelation.  But  when  we 
reach  the  period  of  recorded  prophecy  we  find  that, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  prophets 
had  begun  to  recognise  Jehovah's  dominion  over 
surrounding  peoples.  There  was,  as  yet,  no  deliberate 
and  formal  doctrine  of  omnipotence,  but,  as  Israel 
became  involved  in  the  fortunes  first  of  one  foreign 
power  and  then  of  another,  the  prophets  asserted  that 
the  doings  of  these  heathen  states  were  overruled  by 
the  God  of  Israel.  The  idea  of  Jehovah's  Lordship  of 
the  Nations  enlarged  with  the  extension  of  inter- 
national relations,  as  our  conception  of  the  God  of 
Nature  has  expanded  with  the  successive  discoveries 
of  science.     Hence,    for  the  most  part,  the   prophets 


212  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

devote  special  attention  to  the  concerns  of  Gentile 
peoples.  Hosea,  Micah,  Haggai,  Zechariah,  and 
Malachi  are  partial  exceptions.  Some  of  the  minor 
prophets  have  for  their  main  subject  the  doom  of  a 
heathen  empire.  Jonah  and  Nahum  deal  with  Nineveh, 
Habbakuk  with  Chaldea,  and  Edom  is  specially 
honoured  by  being  almost  the  sole  object  of  the 
denunciations  of  Obadiah.  Daniel  also  deals  with  the 
fate  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  but  in  the  Apocalyptic 
fashion  of  the  Pseudepigrapha.  Jewish  criticism  rightly 
declined  to  recognise  this  book  as  prophetic,  and  re- 
legated it  to  the  latest  collection  of  canonical  scriptures. 
£p^u^r/.'  other  prophetical  books  contains  a  longer 
.^xcer  series  of  utterances  concerning  the  neigh- 
bours of  Israel,  its  friends  and  foes,  its  enemies  and 
allies.  The  fashion  was  apparently  set  by  Amos,  who 
shows  God's  judgment  upon  Damascus,  the  Philistines, 
Tyre,  Edom,  Ammon,  and  Moab.  This  list  suggests 
the  range  of  the  prophet's  religious  interest  in  the 
Gentiles.  Assyria  and  Egypt  were,  for  the  present, 
beyond  the  sphere  of  Revelation,  just  as  China  and 
India  were  to  the  average  Protestant  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  When  we  come  to  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  the 
horizon  widens  in  every  direction.  Jehovah  is  con- 
cerned with  Egypt  and  Ethiopia,  Assyria  and  Babylon.-^ 
In  very  short  books  like  Joel  and  Zephaniah  we  could 
not  expect  exhaustive  treatment  of  this  subject.  Yet 
even  these  prophets  deal  with  the  fortunes  of  the 
Gentiles :  Joel,  variously  held  one  of  the  latest  or  one 
of  the  earliest  of  the  canonical  books,  pronounces  a 
divine  judgment  on  Tyre  and  Sidon  and  the  Philistines, 
on   Egypt  and  Edom  ;  and  Zephaniah,  an  elder  con- 

*   Doubts   however   have   been  raised   as  to  whether   any  of  the 
sections  about   Babylon  are   by  Isaiah  himself. 


XXV.  15-38.]      JEHOVAH  AND    THE  NATIONS  213 


temporary  of  Jeremiah,  devotes  sections  to  the  PhiHs- 
tines,  Moab  and  Ammon,  Ethiopia  and  Assyria. 

The  fall  of  Nineveh  revolutionised  the  international 
system  of  the  East.  The  judgment  on  Asshur  was 
accomplished,  and  her  name  disappears  from  these 
catalogues  of  doom.  In  other  particulars  Jeremiah, 
as  well  as  Ezekiel,  follows  closely  in  the  footsteps  of 
his  predecessors.  He  deals,  hke  them,  with  the  group 
of  Syrian  and  Palestinian  states — Philistines,  Moab, 
Ammon,  Edom,  and  Damascus.^  He  dwells  with 
repeated  emphasis  on  Egypt,  and  Arabia  is  represented 
by  Kedar  and  Hazor.  In  one  section  the  prophet 
travels  into  what  must  have  seemed  ^la.  his  con- 
temporaries the  very  far  East,  as  far  as  Elam.  ^--von*  - 
other  hand,  he  is  comparatively  silent  about  Tyre,  in 
which  Joel,  Amos,  the  Book  of  Isaiah,^  and  above  all 
Ezekiel  display  a  lively  interest.  Nebuchadnezzar's 
campaigns  were  directed  against  Tyre  as-  much  as 
against  Jerusalem;  and  Ezekiel,  living  in  Chaldea, 
would  have  attention  forcibly  directed  to  the  Phoenician 
capital,  at  a  time  when  Jeremiah  was  absorbed  in  the 
fortunes  of  Zion. 

But  in  the  passage  which  we  have  chosen  as  the 
subject  for  this  introduction  to  the  prophecies  of  the 
nations,  Jeremiah  takes  a  somewhat  wider  range  : — 

"Thus  saith  unto  me  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel: 
Take  at  My  hand  this  cup  of  the  wine  of  fury, 
And  make  all  the  nations,  to  whom  I  send  thee,  drink  it. 
They  shall  drink,  and  reel  to  and  fro,  and  be  mad, 
Because  of  the  sword  that  I  will  send  among;  them." 


*  Doubts  have  been  expressed  as  to  the  genuineness  of  the 
Damascus  prophecy. 

^  The  Isaianic  authorship  of  this  prophecy  (Isa.  xxiii.)  is  rejected 
by  very  many  critics, 


214  '  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

First  and  foremost  of  these  nations,  pre-eminent  in 
punishment  as  in  privilege,  stand  "  Jerusalem  and  the 
cities  of  Judah,  with  its  kings  ai/d  princes." 

This  bad  eminence  is  a  necessary  application  of  the 
principle  laid  down  by  Amos  ^  : — 

"  You  only  have  I  known  of  all  the  families  of  the  earth : 
Therefore  I  will  visit  upon  you  all  your  iniquities." 

But  as  Jeremiah  says  later  on,  addressing  the  Gentile 
nations, — 

"  I    begin    to    work    evil    at    the    city    which    is    called    by   My 
name. 
Should  ye  go  scot-free  ?     Ye  shall   not  go  scot-free." 

And  the  prophet  puts  the  cup  of  God"s  fury  to  their 
lips  also,  and  amongst  them,  Egypt,  the  bete  noir  of 
Hebrew  seers,  is  most  conspicuously  marked  out  for 
destruction  :  ^'  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt,  and  his  servants 
and  princes  and  all  his  people,  and  all  the  mixed  popu- 
lation of  Egypt."  ^  Then  follows,  in  epic  fashion,  a 
catalogue  of  "  all  the  nations  "  as  Jeremiah  knew  them  : 
"  All  the  kings  of  the  land  of  Uz,  all  the  kings  of  the 
land  of  the  Philistines  ;  Ashkelon,  Gaza,  Ekron,  and 
the  remnant  of  Ashdod  ;  ^  Edom,  Moab,  and  the 
Ammonites ;  all  the  kings  ^  of  Tyre,  all  the  kings  of 
Zidon,  and  the  kings  of  their  colonies^  beyond  the 
sea ;  Dedan  and  Tema  and  Buz,  and  all  that  have  the 

•  Amos  iii.  2. 

^  So  Giesebrecht,  Orelli,  etc. 

'  Psammetichus  had  recently  taken  Ashdod,  after  a  continuous 
siege  of  twenty-nine  years. 

*  The  plural  may  refer  to  dependent  chiefs  or  may  be  used  for  the 
sake  of  symmetry. 

'"  Lit.  "  the  coasts "  {i.e.  islands  and  coastland)  where  the  Phoe- 
nicians had  planted  their  colonies. 


XXV  15-38.]       JEHOVAH  AND    THE  NATIONS  215 

corners  of  their  hair  polled  ;  ^  and  all  the  kings  of 
Arabia,  and  all  the  kings  of  the  mixed  populations 
that  dwell  in  the  desert ;  all  the  kings  of  Zimri,  all 
the  kings  of  Elam,  and  all  the  kings  of  the  Medes." 
Jeremiah's  definite  geographical  information  is  appar- 
ently exhausted,  but  he  adds  by  way  of  summary 
and  conclusion  :  "  And  all  the  kings  of  the  north,  far 
and  near,  one  after  the  other ;  and  all  the  kingdoms 
of  the  world,  which  are  on  the  face  of  the  earth." 

There  is  one  notable  omission  in  the  list.  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, the  servant  of  Jehovah,^  was  the  divinely 
appointed  scourge  of  Judah  and  its  neighbours  and 
alHes.  Elsewhere  ^  the  nations  are  exhorted  to  submit 
to  him,  and  here  apparently  Chaldea  is  exempted 
from  the  general  doom,  just  as  Ezekiel  passes  no 
formal  sentence  on  Babylon.  It  is  true  that  **all 
the  kingdoms  of  the  earth"  would  naturally  include 
Babylon,  possibly  were  even  intended  to  do  so.  But 
the  Jews  were  not  long  content  with  so  veiled  a 
reference  to  their  conquerors  and  oppressors.  Some 
patriotic  scribe  added  the  explanatory  note,  ''  And  the 
king  of  Sheshach  {i.e.  Babylon)  shall  drink  after  them."  * 
Sheshach  is  obtained  from  Babel  by  the  cypher 
'Athbash,  according  to  which  an  alphabet  is  written  out 
and  a  reversed  alphabet  written  out  underneath  it,  and 
the  letters  of  the  lower  row  used  for  those  of  the  upper 
and  vice  versa.     Thus 

Aleph         B         .         .         .         .         K     L 
T  SH      .         .         .         .         L     K 


'   See  on  xlix.  28-32. 
^  XXV.  9. 
^  xxvii.  8. 

••  Sheshach    (Sheshakh)   for    Babel    also    occurs   in    li.   41.      This 
explanatory  note  is  omitted  by  LXX, 


2i6  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

The  use  of  cypher  seems  to  indicate  that  the  note 
was  added  in  Chaldea  during  the  Exile,  when  it  was 
not  safe  to  circulate  documents  which  openly  denounced 
Babylon.  Jeremiah's  enumeration  of  the  peoples  and 
rulers  of  his  world  is  naturally  more  detailed  and  more 
exhaustive  than  the  list  of  the  nations  against  which 
he  prophesied.  It  includes  the  Phoenician  states, 
details  the  Philistine  cities,  associates  with  Elam  the 
neighbouring  nations  of  Zimri  and  the  Medes,  and 
substitutes  for  Kedar  and  Hazor  Arabia  and  a  number 
of  semi-Arab  states,  Uz,  Dedan,  Tema,  and  Buz.^ 
Thus  Jeremiah's  world  is  the  district  constantly  shown 
in  Scripture  atlases  in  a  map  comprising  the  scenes  of 
Old  Testament  history,  Egypt,  Arabia,  and  Western 
Asia,  south  of  a  line  from  the  north-east  corner  of 
the  Mediterranean  to  the  southern  end  of  the  Caspian 
Sea,  and  west  of  a  Hne  from  the  latter  point  to  the 
northern  end  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  How  much  of 
history  has  been  crowded  into  this  narrow  area !  Here 
science,  art,  and  hterature  won  those  primitive  triumphs 
which  no  subsequent  achievements  could  surpass  or 
even  equal.  Here,  perhaps  for  the  first  time,  men 
tasted  the  Dead  Sea  apples  of  civilisation,  and  learnt 
how  little  accumulated  wealth  and  national  splendour 
can  do  for  the  welfare  of  the  masses.  Here  was  Eden, 
where  God  walked  in  the  cool  of  the  day  to  commune 
with  man  ;  and  here  also  were  many  Mount  Moriahs, 
where  man  gave  his  firstborn  for  his  transgression, 
the  fruit  of  his  body  for  the  sin  of  his  soul,  and  no 
angel  voice  stayed  his  hand. 

And  now  glance  at  any  modern  map  and  see  for 
how  little  Jeremiah's  world  counts  among  the   great 

'  As  to  Damascus  cf.  note  on  p.  213, 


XXV.  15-38]      JEHOVAH  AND   THE  NATIONS  217 

Powers  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Egypt  indeed  is 
a  bone  of  contention  between  European  states,  but 
how  often  does  a  daily  paper  remind  its  readers  of  the 
existence  of  S3Tia  or  Mesopotamia?  We  may  apply 
to  this  ancient  world  the  title  that  Byron  gave  to 
Rome,  "  Lone  mother  of  dead  empires,"  and  call  it  : — 

"  The  desert,  where  we  steer 
Stumbling  o'er  recollections." 

It  is  said  that  Scipio's  exultation  over  the  fall  of 
Carthage  was  marred  by  forebodings  that  Time  had 
a  like  destiny  in  store  for  Rome.  Where  Cromwell 
might  have  quoted  a  text  from  the  Bible,  the  Roman 
soldier  applied  to  his  native  city  the  Homeric  Hues  : — 

"  Troy  shall    sink  in  fire, 
And  Priam's  city  with  himself  expire." 

The  epitaphs  of  ancient  civilisations  are  no  mere 
matters  of  archaeology ;  like  the  inscriptions  on  common 
graves,  they  cairy  a  Memento  mori  for  their  successors. 
But  to  return  from  epitaphs  to  prophecy  :  in  the  list 
which  we  have  just  given,  the  kings  of  many  of  the 
nations  are  required  to  drink  the  cup  of  wrath,  and  the 
section  concludes  with  a  universal  judgment  upon 
the  princes  and  rulers  of  this  ancient  world  under 
the  familiar  figure  of  shepherds,  supplemented  here 
by  another,  that  of  the  ''principal  of  the  flock,"  or, 
as  we  should  say,  ''  bell-wethers."  Jehovah  would 
break  out  upon  them  to  rend  and  scatter  like  a  lion 
from  his  covert.     Therefore  : — 

"Howl,  ye  shepherds,  and  cry! 
Roll  yourselves  in  the  dust,  ye  bell-wethers  ! 
The  time  has  fully  come  for  yo\x  to  be  slaughtered. 
I  will  cast  you  down  with  a  crash,  like  a  vase  of  porcelain.' 

'  This  line  is  somewhat  paraphrased.  Lit.  "  I  will  shatter  you, 
and  ye  shall  fall  like  an  ornamental  vessel  "  (KELI  HEMDA). 


2i8  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Ruin  hath  overtaken  the  refuge  of  the  shepherds, 
And  the  way  of  escape  of  the  bell-wethers." 

Thus  Jeremiah  announces  the  coming  ruin  of  an 
ancient  world,  with  all  its  states  and  sovereigns,  and 
we  have  seen  that  the  prediction  has  been  amply  ful- 
filled. We  can  only  notice  two  other  points  with 
regard  to  this  section. 

First,  then,  we  have  no  right  to  accuse  the  prophet 
of  speaking  from  a  narrow  national  standpoint.  His 
words  are  not  the  expression  of  the  Jewish  adversus 
omnes  alios  hostile  odium  ;  ^  if  they  were,  we  should 
not  hear  so  much  of  Judah's  sin  and  Judah's  punish- 
ment. He  applied  to  heathen  states  as  he  did  to  his 
own  the  divine  standard  of  national  righteousness,  and 
they  too  were  found  wanting.  All  history  confirms 
Jeremiah's  judgment.  This  brings  us  to  our  second 
point.  Christian  thinkers  have  been  engrossed  in 
the  evidential  aspect  of  these  national  catastrophes. 
They  served  to  fulfil  prophecy,  and  therefore  the  squalor 
of  Egypt  and  the  ruins  of  Assyria  to-day  have  seemed 
to  make  our  way  of  salvation  more  safe  and  certain. 
But  God  did  not  merely  sacrifice  these  holocausts  of 
men  and  nations  to  the  perennial  craving  of  feeble 
faith  for  signs.  Their  fate  must  of  necessity  illustrate 
His  justice  and  wisdom  and  love.  Jeremiah  tells  us 
plainly  that  Judah  and  its  neighbours  had  filled  up 
the  measure  of  their  iniquity  before  they  were  called 
upon  to  drink  the  cup  of  wrath ;  national  sin  justifies 
God's  judgments.  Yet  these  very  facts  of  the  moral 
failure  and  decadence  of  human  societies  perplex  and 
startle  us.  Individuals  grow  old  and  feeble  and  die, 
but  saints  and  heroes  do  not  become  slaves  of  vice  and 

'  Tacitus,  History,  v.  5. 


XXV.  15-38.]       JEHOVAH  AND    THE  NATIONS  219 

sin  in  their  last  days.  The  glory  of  their  prime  is 
not  buried  in  a  dishonoured  grave.  Nay  rather,  when 
all  else  fails,  the  beauty  of  holiness  grows  more  pure 
and  radiant.     But  of  what  nation  could  we  say  : — 

"  Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous, 
Let  my  last  end   be  like  his"? 

Apparently  the  collective  conscience  is  a  plant  of 
very  slow  growth  ;  and  hitherto  no  society  has  been 
worthy  to  endure  honourably  or  even  to  perish  nobly. 
In  Christendom  itself  the  ideals  of  common  action  are 
still  avowedly  meaner  than  those  of  individual  conduct. 
International  and  collective  morality  is  still  in  its 
infancy,  and  as  a  matter  of  habit  and  system'  modern 
states  are  often  wantonly  cruel  and  unjust  towards 
obscure  individuals  and  helpless  minorities.  Yet  surely 
it  shall  not  always  be  so  ;  the  daily  prayer  of  countless 
millions  for  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  cannot 
remain  unanswered. 


CHAPTER    XVII 

EGYPT 

xliii.  8-13,  xliv.  30,  xlvi. 

"  I  will  visit  Amon  of  No,  and  Pharaoh,  and  Egypt,  with  their  gods 
and  their  kings;  even  Pharaoh,  and  all  them  that  trust  in  him." — 
Jer.  xlvi.  25. 

THE  kings  of  Egypt  with  whom  Jeremiah  was 
contemporary — Psammetichus  II.,  Pharaoh  Necho, 
and  Pharaoh  Hophra — belonged  to  the  twenty-sixth 
dynasty.  When  growing  distress  at  home  compelled 
Assyria  to  loose  her  hold  on  her  distant  dependencies, 
Egypt  still  retained  something  of  her  former  vigorous 
elasticity.  In  the  rebound  from  subjection  under  the 
heavy  hand  of  Sennacherib,  she  resumed  her  ancient 
forms  of  life  and  government.  She  regained  her  unity 
and  independence,  and  posed  afresh  as  an  equal  rival 
with  Chaldea  for  the  supremacy  of  Western  Asia.  At 
home  there  was  a  renascence  of  art  and  literature,  and, 
as  of  old,  the  wealth  and  devotion  of  powerful  monarchs 
restored  the  ancient  temples  and  erected  new  shrines 
of  their  own. 

But  this  revival  was  no  new  growth  springing  up 
with  a  fresh  and  original  life  from  the  seeds  of  the 
past ;  it  cannot  rank  with  the  European  Renascence  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  It  is  rather  to  be  compared  with 
the  reorganisations  by  which  Diocletian  and  Constan- 
tine  prolonged  the  decline  of  the  Roman  Empire,  the 

320 


xliii.  8-13,  xliv.  30,  xlvi.]  EGYPT  221 

rally  of  a  strong  constitution  in  the  grip  of  mortal 
disease.  These  latter-day  Pharaohs  failed  ignomini- 
ously  in  their  attempts  to  recover  the  Syrian  dominion 
of  the  Thothmes  and  Rameses ;  and,  like  the  Roman 
Empire  in  its  last  centuries,  the  Egypt  of  the  twenty- 
sixth  dynasty  surrendered  itself  to  Greek  influence 
and  hired  foreign  mercenaries  to  fight  its  battles. 
The  new  art  and  literature  were  tainted  by  pedantic 
archaism.  According  to  Brugsch,^  "  Even  to  the 
newly  created  dignities  and  titles,  the  return  to  ancient 
times  had  become  the  general  watchword.  .  .  .  The 
stone  door-posts  of  this  age  reveal  the  old  Memphian 
style  of  art,  mirrored  in  its  modem  reflection  after  the 
lapse  of  four  thousand  years."  Similarly  Meyer  ^  tells 
us  that  apparently  the  Egyptian  state  was  reconstituted 
on  the  basis  of  a  religious  revival,  somewhat  in  the 
fashion  of  the  establishment  of  Deuteronomy  by  Josiah. 

Inscriptions  after  the  time  of  Psammetichus  are 
written  in  archaic  Egyptian  of  a  very  ancient  past ;  it 
is  often  difficult  to  determine  at  first  sight  whether 
inscriptions  belong  to  the  earliest  or  latest  period  of 
Egyptian  history. 

The  superstition  that  sought  safety  in  an  exact 
reproduction  of  a  remote  antiquity  could  not,  however, 
resist  the  fascination  of  Eastern  demonology.  Accord- 
ing to  Brugsch,^  in  the  age  called  the  Egyptian  Renas- 
cence the  old  Egyptian  theology  was  adulterated  with 
Graeco-Asiatic  elements — demons  and  genii  of  whom 
the  older  faith  and  its  purer  doctrine  had  scarcely  an 
idea ;  exorcisms  became  a  special  science,  and  are 
favourite   themes   for   the  inscriptions  of  this  period. 

'  Second  edition,  ii.  291,  292. 

■^  Meyer,  Geschichte  des  alien  Agypten,  371,  373. 

^  ii.  293. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


Thus,  amid  many  differences,  there  are  also  to  be  found 
striking  resemblances  between  the  religious  movements 
of  the  period  in  Egypt  and  amongst  the  Jews,  and 
corresponding  difficulties  in  determining  the  dates  of 
Egyptian  inscriptions  and  of  sections  of  the  Old 
Testament. 

This  enthusiasm  for  ancient  custom  and  tradition 
was  not  likely  to  commend  the  Egypt  of  Jeremiah's  age 
to  any  student  of  Hebrew  history.  He  would  be 
reminded  that  the  dealings  of  the  Pharaohs  with  Israel 
had  almost  always  been  to  its  hurt ;  he  would  remember 
the  Oppression  and  the  Exodus — how,  in  the  time  of 
Solomon,  friendly  intercourse  with  Egypt  taught  that 
monarch  lessons  in  magnificent  tyranny,  how  Shishak 
plundered  the  Temple,  how  Isaiah  had  denounced  the 
Egyptian  alliance  as  a  continual  snare  to  Judah.  A 
Jewish  prophet  would  be  prompt  to  discern  the  omens 
of  coming  ruin  in  the  midst  of  renewed  prosperity  on 
the  Nile. 

Accordingly  at  the  first  great  crisis  of  the  new  inter- 
national system,  in  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim,  either 
just  before  or  just  after  the  battle  of  Carchemish — it 
matters  little  which — Jeremiah  takes  up  his  prophecy 
against  Egypt.  First  of  all,  with  an  ostensible  friendli- 
ness which  only  masks  his  bitter  sarcasm,  he  invites 
the  Egyptians  to  take  the  field  : — 

"Prepare  buckler  and  shield,  and  draw  near  to  battle. 
Harness  the  horses  to  the  chariots,  mount  the  chargers,  stand 

forth  armed  cap-a-pie  for  battle; 
Furbish  the  spears,  put  on  the  coats  of  mail." 

This  great  host  with  its  splendid  equipment  must  surely 
conquer.  The  prophet  professes  to  await  its  triumphant 
return ;  but  he  sees  instead  a  breathless  mob  of  panic- 


xliii.  8-13,  xliv.  30,  xlvi.]  EGYPT  223 

Stricken  fugitives,  and  pours  upon  them  the  torrent  of 
his  irony  : — 

"How   is  it    that   I   behold   this?     These   heroes   are   dismayed 
and  have  turned  their  backs; 
Their  warriors  hav^e  been  beaten  down ; 
They  flee  apace,  and  do  not  look  behind  them : 
Terror  on  every  side — is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah." 

Then  irony  passes  into  explicit  malediction  : — 

"  Let  not  the  swift  flee  away,  nor  the  warrior  escape ; 
Away  northward,  they  stumble  and  fall  by  the  river  Euphrates." 

Then,  in  a  new  strophe,  Jeremiah  again  recurs  in 
imagination  to  the  proud  march  of  the  countless  hosts 
of  Egypt  :— 

"Who  is  this  that  riseth  up  like  the  Nile, 
Whose  waters  toss  themselves  like  the  rivers  ? 
Egypt  riseth  up  like  the  Nile, 
His  waters  toss  themselves  like  the  rivers. 
And  he  saith,  I  will  go  up  and  cover  the  land  " 

(Uke  the  Nile  in  flood); 

"  I  will  destroy  the  cities  and  their  inhabitants  " 

(and,  above  all  other  cities,  Babylon). 

Again    the    prophet   urges    them   on    with    ironical 
encouragement : — 

"  Go  up,  ye  horses ;  rage,  ye  chariots ; 
Ethiopians  and  Libyans  that  handle  the  shield, 
Lydians  that  handle  and  bend  the  bow" 

(the  tributaries  and  mercenaries  of  Egypt). 

Then,  as  before,  he  speaks  plainly  of  coming  disaster  : 

"That  day  is  a  day  of  vengeance  for  the  Lord  Jehovah  Sabaoth, 
whereon  He  will  avenge  Him  of  His  adversaries  " 

(a  day  of  vengeance  upon  Pharaoh  Necho  for  Megiddo 
and  Josiah). 


224  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

"The  sword   shall   devour   and   be   sated,   and   drink    its   fill   of 
their  blood : 
For  the  Lord  Jehovah  Sabaoth  hath  a  sacrifice  in  the  northern 
land,  by  the  river  Euphrates." 

In  a  final  strophe,  the  prophet  turns  to  the  land  left 
bereaved  and  defenceless  by  the  defeat  at  Carchemish  : — 

"Go   up   to   Gilead    and    get   thee   balm,    O    virgin    daughter   of 

Egypt : 
In    vain    dost    thou    multiply    medicines ;    thou    canst   not    be 

healed. 
The   nations   have   heard    of   thy   shame,    the   earth   is   full   of 

thy  cry: 
For  warrior  stumbles  against  warrior;  they  fall  both  together." 

Nevertheless  the  end  was  not  yet.  Egypt  was  wounded 
to  death,  but  she  was  to  linger  on  for  many  a  long  year 
to  be  a  snare  to  Judah  and  to  vex  the  righteous  soul  of 
Jeremiah.  The  reed  was  broken,  but  it  still  retained 
an  appearance  of  soundness,  which  more  than  once 
tempted  the  Jewish  princes  to  lean  upon  it  and  find 
their  hands  pierced  for  their  pains.  Hence,  as  we 
have  seen  already,  Jeremiah  repeatedly  found  occasion 
to  reiterate  the  doom  of  Egypt,  of  Necho's  successor, 
Pharaoh  Hophra,  and  of  the  Jewish  refugees  who  had 
sought  safety  under  his  protection.  In  the  concluding 
part  of  chapter  xlvi.,  a  prophecy  of  uncertain  date  sets 
forth  the  ruin  of  Egypt  with  rather  more  literary  finish 
than  in  the  parallel  passages. 

This  word  of  Jehovah  was  to  be  proclaimed  in  Egypt, 
and  especially  in  the  frontier  cities,  which  would  have 
to  bear  the  first  brunt  of  invasion  : — 

"Declare  in  Egypt,  proclaim  in   Migdol,  proclaim   in   Noph  and 
Tahpanhes : 
Say  ye,    Take   thy   stand   and   be   ready,   for   the   sword   hath 
devoured  round  about  thee. 


xliii.  8-13,  xliv.  30,  xlvi.]  EGYPT  225 

Why    hath    Apis  ^    fled    and    thy    calf    not    stood  ?      Because 
Jehovah  overthrew  it." 

Memphis  was  devoted  to  the  worship  of  Apis,  incarnate 
in  the  sacred  bull ;  but  now  Apis  must  succumb  to 
the  mightier  divinity  of  Jehovah,  and  his  sacred  city 
become  a  prey  to  the  invaders. 

'He  maketh  many  to  stumble;  they  fall  one  against  another. 
Then   they  say,  Arise,   and    let  us   return   to  our  own   people 
and  to  our  native  land,  before  the  oppressing  sword." 

We  must  remember  that  the  Egyptian  armies  were 
largely  composed  of  foreign  mercenaries.  In  the  hour 
of  disaster  and  defeat  these  hirelings  would  desert  their 
employers  and  go  home. 

"Give   unto  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt  the  name^  Crash;   he   hath 
let  the  appointed  time  pass  by," 

The  form  of  this  enigmatic  sentence  is  probably  due  to 
a  play  upon  Egyptian  names  and  titles.  When  the 
allusions  are  forgotten,  such  paronomasia  naturally 
results  in  hopeless  obscurity.  The  ^'  appointed  time  " 
has  been  explained  as  the  period  during  which  Jehovah 
gave  Pharaoh  the  opportunity  of  repentance,  or  as  that 
within  which  he  might  have  submitted  to  Nebuchad- 
nezzar on  favourable  terms. 

"  As  I  live,  is  the  utterance  of  the  King,  whose  name  is  Jehovah 
Sabaoth, 
One    shall    come   like    Tabor    among    the   mountains    and   Uke 
Carmel  by  the  sea." 

It  was  not  necessary  to  name  this  terrible  invader; 
it  could  be  no  other  than  Nebuchadnezzar. 


'  Giesebrecht,  with  LXX. 

2  Giesebrecht,  Orelli,  Kautzsch,  with  LXX.,  Syr.,  and  Vulg.,  by  an 
alteration  of  the  pointing. 

15 


226  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

"  Get  thee  gear  for  captivity,  O  daughter  of  Egypt,  that  dwellest 

in  thine  own  land  : 
For  Noph   shall   become   a  desolation,  and    shall   be   burnt   up 

and  left  without  inhabitants, 
Egypt   is  a  very  fair  heifer,    but  destruction   is  come  upon  her 

from  the  north." 

This  tempest  shattered  the  Greek  phalanx  in  which 
Pharaoh  trusted  : — 

"  Even   her   mercenaries   in   the  midst    of  her  are  like  calves  of 

the  stall; 
Even  they  have  turned  and  fled  together,  they  have  not  stood : 
For  their   day   of    calamity    hath    come    upon   them,    their   day 

of  reckoning." 

We  do  not  look  for  chronological  sequence  in  such 
a  poem,  so  that  this  picture  of  the  flight  and  destruction 
of  the  mercenaries  is  not  necessarily  later  in  time  than 
their  overthrow  and  contemplated  desertion  in  verse  15. 
The  prophet  is  depicting  a  scene  of  bewildered  con- 
fusion ;  the  disasters  that  fell  thick  upon  Egypt  crowd 
into  his  vision  without  order  or  even  coherence.  Now 
he  turns  again  to  Egypt  herself: — 

"Her  voice  goeth  forth  like  the  (low  hissing  of)  the  serpent; 
For  they  come  upon  her  with   a   mighty  army,  and  with  axes 
like  woodcutters." 

A  like  fate  is  predicted  in  Isaiah  xxix.  4  for  '*  Ariel, 
the  city  where  David  dwelt "  : — 

"  Thou  shalt  be  brought  low  and  speak  from  the  ground ; 
Thou  shalt  speak  with  a  low  voice  out  of  the  dust ; 
Thy  voice  shall  come  from  the  ground,  like  that  of  a  familiar 

spirit, 
And  thou  shalt  speak  in  a  whisper  from  the  dust." 

Thus  too  Egypt  would  seek  to  writhe  herself  from 
under  the  heel  of  the  invader ;  hissing  out  the  while 
her  impotent  fury,  she  would  seek  to  glide  away 
into   some  safe  refuge  amongst  the  underwood.     Hef 


xliii.  8-13,  xliv.  30,  xlvi.]  EGYPT  227 

dominions,  stretching  far  up  the  Nile,  were  surely  vast 
enough  to  afford  her  shelter  somewhere  ;  but  no  I  the 
'*  woodcutters  "  are  too  many  and  too  mighty  for  her  : — 

**  They   cut   down    her  forest — it  is   the   utterance   of  Jehovah — 
for  it  is  impenetrable ; 
For  they  are  more  than  the  locusts,  and  are  innumerable." 

The  whole  of  Egypt  is  overrun  and  subjugated ;  no 
district  holds  out  against  the  invader,  and  remains 
unsubjugated  to  form  the  nucleus  of  a  new  and  inde- 
pendent empire. 

"The  daughter  of  Egypt  is  put  to  shame;  she  is  delivered  into 
the  hand  of  the  northern  people." 

Her  gods  share  her  fate ;  Apis  had  succumbed  at 
Memphis,  but  Egypt  had  countless  other  stately  shrines 
whose  denizens  must  own  the  overmastering  might 
of  Jehovah : — 

"  Thus  saith  Jehovah  Sabaoth,  the  God  of  Israel : 
Behold,  I  will  visit  Amon  of  No, 

And  Pharaoh,  and  Egypt,  and  all  her  gods  and  kings, 
Even  Pharaoh  and  all  who  trust  in  him." 

Amon  of  No,  or  Thebes,  known  to  the  Greeks  as 
Ammon  and  called  by  his  own  worshippers  Amen,  or 
^'  the  hidden  one,"  is  apparently  mentioned  with  Apis 
as  sharing  the  primacy  of  the  Egyptian  divine  hierarchy. 
On  the  fall  of  the  twentieth  dynasty,  the  high  priest  of 
the  Theban  Amen  became  king  of  Egypt,  and  centuries 
afterwards  Alexander  the  Great  made  a  special  pil- 
grimage to  the  temple  in  the  oasis  of  Ammon  and  was 
much  gratified  at  being  there  hailed  son  of  the  deity. 

Probably  the  prophecy  originally  ended  with  this 
general  threat  of  "  visitation  "  of  Egypt  and  its  human 
and  divine   rulers.     An  editor,   however,  has   added, ^ 

'  LXX.  omits  verse  26.     Verses  27,  28  =  xxx.  10,  11,  and  probably 
are  an  insertion  here. 


228  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 


from  parallel  passages,  the  more  definite  but  sufficiently 
obvious  statement  that  Nebuchadnezzar  and  his  servants 
were  to  be  the  instruments  of  the  Divine  visitation. 

A  further  addition  is  in  striking  contrast  to  the 
sweeping  statements  of  Jeremiah  : — 

"Afterward  it  shall  be  inhabited,  as  in  the  days  of  old." 

Similarly,  Ezekiel  foretold  a  restoration  for  Egypt : — 

"At  the  end  of  forty  years,  I  will  gather  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  will  cause  them  to  return  ...  to  their  native 
land ;  and  they  shall  be  there  a  base  kingdom  :  it  shall 
be  the  basest  of  the  kingdoms."^ 

And  elsewhere  we  read  yet  more  gracious  promises 
to  Egypt  :— 

*'  Israel  shall  be  a  third  with  Egypt  and  Assyria,  a 
blessing  in  the  midst  of  the  land :  whom  Jehovah 
Sabaoth  shall  bless,  saying.  Blessed  be  Egypt  My 
people,  and  Assyria  the  work  of  My  hands,  and  Israel 
Mine  inheritance."  ^ 

Probably  few  would  claim  to  discover  in  history  any 
literal  fulfilment  of  this  last  prophecy.  Perhaps  it 
might  have  been  appropriated  for  the  Christian  Church 
in  the  days  of  Clement  and  Origen.  We  may  take 
Egypt  and  Assyria  as  types  of  heathendom,  which 
shall  one  day  receive  the  blessings  of  the  Lord's  people 
and  of  the  work  of  His  hands.  Of  political  revivals 
and  restorations  Egypt  has  had  her  share.  But  less 
interest  attaches  to  these  general  prophecies  than  to 
more  definite  and  detailed  predictions ;  and  there  is  much 
curiosity  as  to  any  evidence  which  monuments  and  other 
profane  witnesses  may  furnish  as  to  a  conquest  of  Egypt 
and  capture  of  Pharaoh  Hophra  by  Nebuchadnezzar. 

According  to  Herodotus,^  Apries  (Hophra)  was  de- 

^  Ezek.  xxix.  13-15.         ^  Isa.  xix.  25.         ^  Herodotus,  II.  clxix. 


xliii.  8-13,  xliv.  30,  xlvi.]  EGYPT  229 

feated  and  imprisoned  by  his  successor  Amasis,  after- 
wards delivered  up  by  him  to  the  people  of  Egypt, 
who  forthwith  strangled  their  former  king.  This  event 
would  be  an  exact  fulfilment  of  the  words,  ''  I  will 
give  Pharaoh  Hophra  king  of  Egypt  into  the  hand  of 
his  enemies,  and  into  the  hand  of  them  that  seek  his 
life,"  ^  if  it  were  not  evident  from  parallel  passages" 
that  the  Book  of  Jeremiah  intends  Nebuchadnezzar  to 
be  the  enemy  into  whose  hands  Pharaoh  is  to  be 
delivered.  But  Herodotus  is  entirely  silent  as  to  the 
relations  of  Egypt  and  Babylon  during  this  period  ;  for 
instance,  he  mentions  the  victory  of  Pharaoh  Necho  at 
Megiddo — which  he  miscalls  Magdolium — but  not  his 
defeat  at  Carchemish.  Hence  his  silence  as  to  Chaldean 
conquests  in  Egypt  has  little  weight.  Even  the  his- 
torian's explicit  statement  as  to  the  death  of  Apries 
might  be  reconciled  with  his  defeat  and  capture  by 
Nebuchadnezzar,  if  we  knew  all  the  facts.  At  present, 
however,  the  inscriptions  do  little  to  fill  the  gap  left 
by  the  Greek  historian  ;  there  are,  however,  references 
which  seem  to  establish  two  invasions  of  Egypt  by  the 
Chaldean  king,  one  of  which  fell  in  the  reign  of  Pharaoh 
Hophra.  But  the  spiritual  lessons  of  this  and  the 
following  prophecies  concerning  the  nations  are  not 
dependent  on  the  spade  of  the  excavator  or  the  skill  of 
the  decipherers  of  hieroglyphics  and  cuneiform  script ; 
whatever  their  relation  may  be  to  the  details  of  sub- 
sequent historical  events,  they  remain  as  monuments 
of  the  inspired  insight  of  the  prophet  into  the  character 
and  destiny  alike  of  great  empires  and  petty  states. 
They  assert  the  Divine  government  of  the  nations,  and 
the  subordination  of  all  history  to  the  coming  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God. 

'  xliv.  30.  -  xlvi.  25. 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

THE  PHILISTINES 

xlvii. 

"  O  sword  of  Jehovah,  how  long  will  it  be  ere  thou  be  quiet  ? 
put  up  thyself  into  thy  scabbard;  rest,  and  be  still." — Jer.  xlvii.  6. 

ACCORDING  to  the  title  placed  at  the  head  of 
this  prophecy,  it  was  uttered  ''  before  Pharaoh 
smote  Gaza."  The  Pharaoh  is  evidently  Pharaoh  Necho, 
and  this  capture  of  Gaza  was  one  of  the  incidents  of 
the  campaign  which  opened  with  the  victory  at 
Megiddo  and  concluded  so  disastrously  at  Carchemish, 
Our  first  impulse  is  to  look  for  some  connection 
between  this  incident  and  the  contents  of  the  prophecy : 
possibly  the  editor  who  prefixed  the  heading  may  have 
understood  by  the  northern  enemy  Pharaoh  Necho  on 
his  return  from  Carchemish  ;  but  would  Jeremiah  have 
described  a  defeated  army  thus  ? 

"  Behold,    waters    rise    out   of  the    north,   and    become   an   over- 
flowing torrent ; 
They  overflow  the  land,  and   all  that    is   therein,  the  city  and 

its  inhabitants. 
Men  cry  out,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  howl, 
At  the  sound  of  the  stamping  of  the  hoofs  of  his  stallions, 
At  the  rattling  of  his  chariots  and  the  rumbling  of  his  wheels." 

Here  as  elsewhere  the  enemy  from  the  north  is 
Nebuchadnezzar.  Pharaohs  might  come  and  go,  winning 
victories  and  taking  cities,  but  these  broken  reeds  count 
for  little  ;    not   they,    but  the   king  of  Babylon  is  the 

230 


xlvii.]  THE  PHILISTINES  231 

instrument  of  Jehovah's  supreme  purpose.  The  utter 
terror  caused  by  the  Chaldean  advance  is  expressed 
by  a  striking  figure : — 

"The  fathers  look  not  back   to  their   children   for   slackness   of 
hands." 

Their  very  bodies  are  possessed  and  crippled  with 
fear,  their  palsied  muscles  cannot  respond  to  the 
impulses  of  natural  affection ;  they  can  do  nothing  but 
hurry  on  in  headlong  flight,  unable  to  look  round  or 
stretch  out  a  helping  hand  to  their  children  : — 

"Because  of  the  daj'  that  cometh  for  the  spoiling  of  all  the  Philis- 
tines, 
For  cutting  off  every  ally  that  remaineth  unto  Tyre  and  Zidon  : 
For  Jehovah  spoileth  the  Philistines,  the  remnant  of   the  coast 

of  Caphtor.' 
Baldness  cometh  upon  Gaza ;  Ashkelon  is  destroyed : 
O  remnant  of  the  Anakim,-  how  long  wilt  thou  cut  thyself?" 

This  list  is  remarkable  both  for  what  it  includes  and 
what  it  omits.  In  order  to  understand  the  reference 
to  Tyre  and  Zidon,  we  must  remember  that  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's expedition  was  partly  directed  against  these 
cities,  with  which  the  Philistines  had  evidently  been 
allied.  The  Chaldean  king  would  hasten  the  sub- 
mission of  the  Phoenicians,  by  cutting  off  all  hope 
of  succour  from  without.  There  are  various  possible 
reasons  why  out  of  the  five  Philistine  cities  only  two 
— Ashkelon  and  Gaza — are  mentioned ;  Ekron,  Oath, 
and  Ashdod  may  have  been  reduced  to  comparative 
insignificance.  Ashdod  had  recently  been  taken  by 
Psammetichus  after  a  twenty-nine   years'   siege.       Or 

*  Referring  to  their  ancient  immigration  from  Caphtor,  probably 
Crete. 

2  Kautzsch,  Giesebrecht,  with  LXX,,  reading  'Nqni  for  the  Masoretic 
'Mqm;  Eng.  Vers.,  "their  valley." 


232  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

the  names  of  two  of  these  cities  may  be  given  by  way 
of  paronomasia  in  the  text  :  Ashdod  may  be  suggested 
by  the  double  reference  to  the  spoiling  and  the  spoiler^ 
Shdod  and  Shaded;  Gath  may  be  hinted  at  by  the 
word  used  for  the  mutilation  practised  by  mourners, 
Tithgoddadi,  and  by  the  mention  of  the  Anakim,  who 
are  connected  with  Gath,  Ashdod,  and  Gaza  in 
Joshua  xi.  22. 

As  Jeremiah  contemplates  this  fresh  array  of  victims 
of  Chaldean  cruelty,  he  is  moved  to  protest  against 
the  weary  monotony  of  ruin  : — 

"O  sword  of  Jehovah,  how  long  will   it  be  ere  thou  be   quiet? 
Put  up  thyself  into  thy  scabbard ;    rest,  and  be  still." 

The  prophet  ceases  to  be  the  mouthpiece  of  God,  and 
breaks  out  into  the  cry  of  human  anguish.  How 
often  since,  amid  the  barbarian  inroads  that  over- 
whelmed the  Roman  Empire,  amid  the  prolonged 
horrors  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  amid  the  carnage 
of  the  French  Revolution,  men  have  uttered  a  like 
appeal  to  an  unanswering  and  relentless  Providence  I 
Indeed,  not  in  war  only,  but  even  in  peace,  the  tide  of 
human  misery  and  sin  often  seems  to  flow,  century 
after  century,  with  undiminished  volume,  and  ever 
and  again  a  vain  ^'  How  long "  is  wrung  from  pallid 
and  despairing  lips.  For  the  Divine  purpose  may  not 
be  hindered,  and  the  sword  of  Jehovah  must  still 
strike  home. 

"  How   can   it    be   quiet,    seeing   that  Jehovah    hath   given   it   a 
charge  ? 
Against   Ashkelon   and    against   the   sea-shore,    there   hath  He 
appointed  it." 

r 
Yet   Ashkelon  survived  to  be  a  stronghold  of  the 

Crusaders,   and   Gaza   to   be   captured   by   Alexander 


xlvii.]  THE  PHILISTINES  233 

and  even  by  Napoleon.  Jehovah  has  other  instru- 
ments besides  His  devastating  sword  ;  the  victorious 
endurance  and  recuperative  vitaHty  of  men  and  nations 
also  come  from  Him. 

"  Come,  and  let  us  return  unto  Jehovah : 
For  He  hath  torn,  and  He  will  heal  us  ; 
He  hath  smitten,  and  He  will  bind  us  up."  • 

'  Rosea  vi.  i. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

MOAB 
xlviii. 

"Moab  shall  be  destroyed  from  being  a  people,  because  he  hath 
magnified  himself  against  Jehovah." — Jer.  xlviii.  42. 

"  Chemosh  said  to  me,  Go,  take  Nebo  against  Israel  .  .  .  and  I  took 
it  .  .  .  and  I  took  from  it  the  vessels  of  Jehovah,  and  offered  them 
before  Chemosh." — Moabite  Stone. 

"  Yet  will  I  bring  again  the  captivity  of  Moab  in  the  latter  days." — 
Jer.  xlviii.  47. 

THE  prophets  show  a  very  keen  interest  in  Moab. 
With  the  exception  of  the  very  short  Book  of 
Joel,  all  the  prophets  who  deal  in  detail  with  foreign 
nations  devote  sections  to  Moab.  The  unusual  length 
of  such  sections  in  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  is  not  the 
only  resemblance  between  the  utterances  of  these  two 
prophets  concerning  Moab.  There  are  many  parallels  ^ 
of  idea  and  expression,  which  probably  indicate  the  in- 
fluence of  the  elder  prophet  upon  his  successor  ;  unless 
indeed  both  of  them  adapted  some  popular  poem  which 
was  early  current  in  Judah.^ 

It  is  easy  to  understand  why  the  Jewish  Scriptures 

^  E.g.  xlviii.  5,  "  For  by  the  ascent  of  Luhith  U'ith  continual  weep- 
ing shall  they  go  up ;  for  in  going  down  of  Horonaim  they  have  heard 
the  distress  of  the  cry  of  destruction,"  is  almost  identical  with 
Isa.  XV.  5.     Cf.  also  xlviii.  29-34  with  Isa.  xv.  4,  xvi.  6-1 1. 

^  Verse  47  with  the  subscription,  "  Thus  far  is  the  judgment  of 
Moab,"  is  wanting  in  the  LXX. 

234 


xlviii.]  MOAB  235 

should  have  much  to  say  about  Moab,  just  as  the  sole 
surviving  fragment  of  Moabite  literature  is  chiefly 
occupied  with  Israel.  These  two  Terahite  tribes — the 
children  of  Jacob  and  the  children  of  Lot — had  dwelt 
side  by  side  for  centuries,  like  the  Scotch  and  English 
borderers  before  the  accession  of  James  I.  They  had 
experienced  many  alternations  of  enmity  and  friendship, 
and  had  shared  complex  interests,  common  and  conflict- 
ing, after  the  manner  of  neighbours  who  are  also  kins- 
men. Each  in  its  turn  had  oppressed  the  other;  and 
Moab  had  been  the  tributary  of  the  Israelite  monarchy  till 
the  victorious  arms  of  Mesha  had  achieved  independence 
for  his  people  and  firmly  established  their  dominion 
over  the  debatable  frontier  lands.  There  are  traces, 
too,  of  more  kindly  relations  :  the  House  of  David 
reckoned  Ruth  the  Moabitess  amongst  its  ancestors, 
and  Jesse,  hke  Elimelech  and  Naomi,  had  taken  refuge 
in  Moab. 

Accordingly  this  prophecy  concerning  Moab,  in  both 
its  editions,  frequently  strikes  a  note  of  sympathetic 
lamentation  and  almost  becomes  a  dirge. 

"Therefore  will  I  howl  for  Moab; 
Yea,  for  all  Moab  will  I  cry  out. 
For  the  men  of  Kir-heres  shall  they  mourn. 
With  more  than  the  weeping  of  Jazer 
Will  I  weep  for  thee,  O   vine  of  Sibmah. 

Therefore  mine  heart  soundeth  hke  pipes  for  Moab, 
Mine  heart  soundeth  like  pipes  for  the  men  of  Kir-heres." 

But  this  pity  could  not  avail  to  avert  the  doom  of 
Moab ;  it  only  enabled  the  Jewish  prophet  to  fully 
appreciate  its  terrors.  The  picture  of  coming  ruin 
is  drawn  with  the  colouring  and  outlines  familiar  to 
us  in  the  utterances  of  Jeremiah — spoiling  and  destruc- 


236  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

tion,  fire  and  sword  and  captivity,  dismay  and  wild 
abandonment  of  wailing. 

"  Chemosh  shall  go  forth  into  captivity,  his  priests  and  his  princes 
together. 

Every  head  is  bald,  and  every  beard  clipped  ; 

Upon  all  the  hands  are  cuttings,  and  upon  the  loins  sackcloth. 

On  all  the  housetops  and  in  all  the  streets  of  Moab  there  is 
everywhere  lamentation  ; 

For  I  have  broken  Moab  like  a  useless  vessel — it  is  the  utter- 
ance of  Jehovah. 

How  is  it  broken  down !     Howl  ye  !    Be  thou  ashamed  ! 

How  hath  Moab  turned  the  back ! 

All  the  neighbours  shall  laugh  and  shudder  at  Moab. 

The  heart  of  the  mighty  men  of  Moab  at  that  day 
Shall  be  like  the  heart  of  a  woman  in  her  pangs." 

This  section  of  Jeremiah  illustrates  the  dramatic 
versatility  of  the  prophet's  method.  He  identifies 
himself  now  with  the  blood-thirsty  invader,  now  with 
his  wretched  victims,  and  now  with  the  terror-stricken 
spectators ;  and  sets  forth  the  emotions  of  each  in  turn 
with  vivid  realism.  Hence  at  one  moment  we  have 
the  pathos  and  pity  of  such  verses  as  we  have  just 
quoted,  and  at  another  such  stern  and  savage  words 
as  these : — 

"Cursed  be  he  that  doeth  the  work  of  Jehovah  negligently, 
Cursed  be  he  that  stinteth  his  sword  of  blood." 

These  lines  might  have  served  as  a  motto  for  Cromwell 
at  the  massacre  of  Drogheda,  for  Tilly's  army  at  the 
sack  of  Magdeburg,  or  for  Danton  and  Robespierre 
during  the  Reign  of  Terror.  Jeremiah's  words  were 
the  more  terrible  because  they  were  uttered  with  the 
full  consciousness  that  in  the  dread  Chaldean  king  ^  a 

*  The  exact  date  of  the  prophecy  is  uncertain,  but  it  must  have 
been  written  during  the  reign  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 


xlviii.]  MOAB  237 

servant  of  Jehovah  was  at  hand  who  would  be  careful 
not  to  incur  any  curse  for  stinting  his  sword  of  blood. 
We  shrink  from  what  seems  to  us  the  prophet's  brutal 
assertion  that  relentless  and  indiscriminate  slaughter 
is  sometimes  the  service  which  man  is  called  upon  to 
render  to  God.  Such  sentiment  is  for  the  most  part 
worthless  and  unreal ;  it  does  not  save  us  from 
epidemics  of  war  fever,  and  is  at  once  ignored  under 
the  stress  of  horrors  like  the  Indian  Mutiny.  There 
is  no  true  comfort  in  trying  to  persuade  ourselves  that 
the  most  awful  events  of  history  lie  outside  of  the 
Divine  purpose,  or  in  forgetting  that  the  human  scourges 
of  their  kind  do  the  work  that  God  has  assigned  to 
them. 

In  this  inventory,  as  it  were,  of  the  ruin  of  Moab 
our  attention  is  arrested  by  the  constant  and  de- 
tailed references  to  the  cities.  This  feature  is  partly 
borrowed  from  Isaiah.  Ezekiel  too  speaks  of  the 
Moabite  cities  which  are  the  glory  of  the  country ;  ^  but 
Jeremiah's  prophecy  is  a  veritable  Domesday  Book  of 
Moab.  With  his  epic  fondness  for  lists  of  sonorous 
names — after  the  manner  of  Homer's  catalogue  of  the 
ships — he  enumerates  Nebo,  Kiriathaim,  Heshbon,  and 
Horonaim,  city  after  city,  till  he  completes  a  tale  of  no 
fewer  than  twenty-six,^  and  then  summarises  the  rest 
as  ''  all  the  cities  of  the  land  of  Moab,  far  and  near." 
Eight  of  these  cities  are  mentioned  in  Joshua  ^  as  part 
of  the  inheritance  of  Reuben  and  Gad.  Another, 
Bozrah,  is  usually  spoken  of  as  a  city  of  Edom.* 

The    Moabite    Stone    explains    the    occurrence    of 

^  Ezek.  XXV.  9. 

^  Some  of  the  names,  however,  may  be  variants. 

^  Josh.  xiii.  15-28  (possibly  on  JE.  basis). 

*  xlix.  13,  possibly  this  is  not  the  Edomite  Bozrah. 


238  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Reubenite  cities  in  these  lists.  It  tells  us  how  Mesha 
took  Nebo,  Jahaz,  and  Horonaim  from  Israel.  Possibly 
in  this  period  of  conquest  Bozrah  became  tributary  to 
Moab,  without  ceasing  to  be  an  Edomite  city.  This 
extension  of  territory  and  multiplication  of  towns  points 
to  an  era  of  power  and  prosperity,  of  which  there  are 
other  indications  in  this  chapter.  ''  We  are  mighty  and 
valiant  for  war,"  said  the  Moabites.  When  Moab  fell 
"  there  was  broken  a  mighty  sceptre  and  a  glorious 
staff."  Other  verses  imply  the  fertility  of  the  land  and 
the  abundance  of  its  vintage. 

Moab  in  fact  had  profited  by  the  misfortunes  of  its 
more  powerful  and  ambitious  neighbours.  The  pressure 
of  Damascus,  Assyria,  and  Chaldea  prevented  Israel 
and  Judah  from  maintaining  their  dominion  over  their 
ancient  tributary.  Moab  lay  less  directly  in  the  track 
of  the  invaders ;  it  was  too  insignificant  to  attract  their 
special  attention,  perhaps  too  prudent  to  provoke  a 
contest  with  the  lords  of  the  East.  Hence,  while 
Judah  was  declining,  Moab  had  enlarged  her  borders 
and  grown  in  wealth  and  power. 

And  even  as  Jeshurun  kicked,  when  he  was  waxen 
fat,^  so  Moab  in  its  prosperity  was  puffed  up  with 
unholy  pride.  Even  in  Isaiah's  time  this  was  the 
besetting  sin  of  Moab  ;  he  says  in  an  indictment  which 
Jeremiah  repeats  almost  word  for  word  : — 

"  We  have  heard  of  the  pride  of  Moab,  that  he  is  very  proud, 
Even  of  his  arrogancy  and  his  pride  and  his  wrath."  ^ 

This  verse  is  a  striking  example  of  the  Hebrew  method 
of  gaining  emphasis  by  accumulating  derivatives  of  the 
same  and  similar  roots.  The  verse  in  Jeremiah  runs 
thus :    "  W^e    have    heard   of   the    pride    (Ge'ON)    of 

*  Deut.  xxxii.  15^  ^  Isa.  xvi.  6. 


xlviii.]  MOAB  239 

Moab,  that  he  is  very  proud  (GE'EH) ;  his  loftiness 
(GABHeHO),  and  his  pride  (Ge'ONO),  and  his 
proudfulness  (GA'aWATHO)." 

Jeremiah  dwells  upon  this  theme  : — 

"Moab  shall  be  destroyed  from  being  a  people, 
Because  he  hath  magnified  himself  against  Jehovah." 

Zephaniah  bears  like  testimony  ^ : — 

"  This  shall  they  have  for  their  pride, 
Because  they  have  been  insolent,  and  have  magnified  themselves 
Against  the  people  of  Jehovah  Sabaoth." 

Here  again  the  Moabite  Stone  bears  abundant  testimony 
to  the  justice  of  the  prophet's  accusations ;  for  there 
Mesha  tells  how  in  the  name  and  by  the  grace  of 
Chemosh  he  conquered  the  cities  of  Israel ;  and  how, 
anticipating  Belshazzar's  sacrilege,  he  took  the  sacred 
vessels  of  Jehovah  from  His  temple  at  Nebo  and 
consecrated  them  to  Chemosh.  Truly  Moab  had 
"  magnified  himself  against  Jehovah." 

Prosperity  had  produced  other  baleful  effects  beside 
a  haughty  spirit,  and  pride  was  not  the  only  cause  of 
the  ruin  of  Moab.  Jeremiah  applies  to  nations  the 
dictum  of  Polonius — 

"Home-keeping  youths  have  ever  homely  wits," 

and  apparently  suggests  that  ruin  and  captivity  were 
necessary  elements  in  the  national  discipline  of  Moab  : — 

"  Moab  hath  been  undisturbed  from  his  youth ; 
He  hath  settled  on  his  lees; 

He  hath  not  been  emptied  from  vessel  to  vessel; 
He  hath  not  gone  into  captivity  : 
Therefore  his  taste  remaineth  in  him, 
His  scent  is  not  changed. 


240  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Wherefore,    behold,    the    days    come — it   is    the    utterance    of 

Jehovah — 
That  I  will  send  men  unto  him  that  shall  tilt  him  up ; 
They  shall  empty  his  vessels  and  break  his  '  bottles." 

As  the  chapter,  in  its  present  form,  concludes  with  a 
note — 

"  I  will  bring  again  the  captivity  of  Moab  in  the  latter  days — it 
is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah  " — 

we  gather  that  even  this  rough  handhng  was  dis- 
cipHnary  ;  at  any  rate,  the  former  lack  of  such  vicissi- 
tudes had  been  to  the  serious  detriment  of  Moab.  It 
is  strange  that  Jeremiah  did  not  apply  this  principle 
to  Judah.  For,  indeed,  the  religion  of  Israel  and  of 
mankind  owes  an  incalculable  debt  to  the  captivity 
of  Judah,  a  debt  which  later  writers  are  not  slow  to 
recognise.     "  Behold,"  says  the  prophet  of  the  Exile, — 

"  I  have  refined  thee,  but  not  as  silver ; 
I  have  chosen  thee  in  the  furnace  of  affliction."^ 

History  constantly  illustrates  how  when  Christians 
were  undisturbed  and  prosperous  the  wine  of  truth 
settled  on  the  lees  and  came  to  taste  of  the  cask ;  and 
— to  change  the  figure — how  affliction  and  persecution 
proved  most  effectual  tonics  for  a  debilitated  Church. 
Continental  critics  of  modern  England  speak  severely 
of  the  ill-effects  which  our  prolonged  freedom  from 
invasion  and  civil  war,  and  the  unbroken  continuity  of 
our  social  life  have  had  on  our  national  character  and 
manners.  In  their  eyes  England  is  a  perfect  Moab, 
concerning  which  they  are  ever  ready  to  prophesy  after 
the   manner   of   Jeremiah.      The    Hebrew    Chronicler 

1  Kautzsch,  Giesebrecht,  with  LXX. ;  A.V.,  K.V.,  with  Hebrew 
Text,  "their  bottles."  ^  Isa.  xlviii    lO. 


xlviii.]  MOAB  241 

blamed  Josiah  because  he  would  not  listen  to  the  advice 
and  criticism  of  Pharaoh  Necho.  There  may  be  warn- 
ings which  we  should  do  well  to  heed,  even  in  the 
acrimony  of  foreign  journalists. 

But  any  such  suggestion  raises  wider  and  more 
difficult  issues ;  for  ordinary  individuals  and  nations 
the  discipline  of  calamity  seems  necessar}^  What 
degree  of  moral  development  exempts  from  such  dis- 
cipline, and  how  may  it  be  attained  ?  Christians  cannot 
seek  to  compound  for  such  discipline  by  self-inflicted 
loss  or  pain,  like  Polycrates  casting  away  his  ring  or 
Browning's  Caliban,  who  in  his  hour  of  terror, 

"  Lo  !  'Licth  flat  and  loveth  Setebos  1 
'Maketh  his  teeth  meet  through  his  upper  lip, 
Will  let  those  quails  fly,  will  not  eat  this  month 
One  little  mess  of  whelks,  so  he  may  'seape," 

But  though  it  is  easy  to  counsel  resignation  and  the 
recognition  of  a  wise  loving  Providence  in  national  as 
in  personal  suffering,  yet  mankind  longs  for  an  end  to 
the  period  of  pupilage  and  chastisement  and  would  fain 
know  how  it  may  be  hastened. 


16 


CHAPTER   XX 

AMMON 

xlix.  1-6, 

"  Hath  Israel  no  sons  ?  hath  he  no  heir  ?  why  then  doth  Moloch 
possess  Gad,  and  his  people  dwell  in  the  cities  thereof?  " — Jer.  xlix.  i 

THE  relations  of  Israel  with  Ammon  were  similar 
but  less  intimate  than  they  were  with  his  twin- 
brother  Moab.  Hence  this  prophecy  is,  mutatis  mutan- 
dis^ an  abridgment  of  that  concerning  Moab.  As  Moab 
was  charged  with  magnifying  himself  against  Jehovah, 
and  was  found  to  be  occupying  cities  which  Reuben 
claimed  as  its  inheritance,  so  Ammon  had  presumed  to 
take  possession  of  the  Gadite  cities,  whose  inhabitants 
had  been  carried  away  captive  by  the  Assyrians.  Here 
again  the  prophet  enumerates  Heshbon,  Ai,  Rabbah, 
and  the  dependent  towns,  "  the  daughters  of  Rabbah." 
Only  in  the  territory  of  this  half-nomadic  people  the 
cities  are  naturally  not  so  numerous  as  in  Moab ;  and 
Jeremiah  mentions  also  the  fertile  valleys  wherein 
the  Ammonites  gloried.  The  familiar  doom  of  ruin 
and  captivity  is  pronounced  against  city  and  country 
and  all  the  treasures  of  Ammon;  Moloch,^  like 
Chemosh,  must  go  into  captivity  with  his  priests  and 
princes.  This  prophecy  also  concludes  with  a  promise 
of  restoration  : — 

"Afterward   I  will  bring   again  the  captivity   of  the  children   of 
Ammon — it  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah." 

•  xlix.  3  :  A. v.,  "their  king  ";  R.V.,  "  Malcam,"  which  here  and  in 
verse  i  is  a  form  of  Moloch. 

242 


CHAPTER   XXI 

EDOM 

xlix.   7-22. 

*'  Bozrah  shall  become  an  astonishment,  a  reproach,  a  waste,  and 
a  curse," — Jer.  xlix.   13. 

THE  prophecy  concerning  Edom  is  not  formulated 
along  the  same  line  as  those  which  deal  with  the 
the  twin  children  of  Lot,  Moab  and  Ammon.  Edom 
was  not  merely  the  cousin,  but  the  brother  of  Israel. 
His  history,  his  character  and  conduct,  had  marked 
pecuHarities,  which  received  special  treatment.  Edom 
had  not  only  intimate  relations  with  Israel  as  a  whole, 
but  was  also  bound  by  exceptionally  close  ties  to  the 
Southern  Kingdom.  The  Edomite  clan  Kenaz  had  been 
incorporated  in  the  tribe  of  Judah ;  ^  and  when  Israel 
broke  up  into  two  states,  Edom  was  the  one  tributary 
which  was  retained  or  reconquered  by  the  House  of 
David,  and  continued  subject  to  Judah  till  the  reign  of 
Jehoram  ben  Jehoshaphat.^ 

Much  virtuous  indignation  is  often  expressed  at 
the  wickedness  of  Irishmen  in  contemplating  rebellion 
against  the  dominion  of  England :  we  cannot  therefore 
be  surprised  that  the  Jews  resented  the  successful  revolt 

*  Cf.  the  designation  of  Caleb  "  ben  Jephunneh  the  Kenizzite," 
Num.  xxxii.  12,  etc.,  with  the  genealogies  which  trace  the  descent 
of  Kenaz  to  Esau,  Gen.  xxxvi.  11,  etc.  Cf.  also  Expositor's  Bible, 
Chronicles.  ^  Cf.  I  Kings  xxii.  47  with  2  Kings  viii.  20. 

243 


244  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

» ~  '  "     ■ 

of  Edom,  and  regarded  the  hostility  of  Mount  Seir  to 
its  former  masters  as  ingratitude  and  treachery.  In 
moments  of  hot  indignation  against  the  manifold  sins 
of  Judah  Jeremiah  might  have  announced  with  great 
vehemence  that  Judah  should  be  made  a  ''  reproach  and 
a  proverb  "  ;  but  when,  as  Obadiah  tells  us,  the  Edomites 
stood  gazing  with  eager  curiosity  on  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  and  rejoiced  and  exulted  in  the  distress 
of  the  Jews,  and  even  laid  hands  on  their  substance 
in  the  day  of  their  calamity,  and  occupied  the  roads 
to  catch  fugitives  and  deliver  them  up  to  the  Chal- 
deans/ then  the  patriotic  fervour  of  the  prophet  broke 
out  against  Edom.  Like  Moab  and  Ammon,  he  was 
puffed  up  with  pride,  and  deluded  by  baseless  con- 
fidence into  a  false  security.  These  hardy  mountaineers 
trusted  in  their  reckless  courage  and  in  the  strength  of 
their  inaccessible  mountain  fastnesses. 

"  Men   shall   shudder   at  thy   fate,^   the   pride   of  thy  heart  hath 
deceived  thee, 

0  thou   that   dwellest  in    the    clefts   of  the  rock,    that   holdest 

the  height  of  the  hill : 
Though  thou  shouldest  make  thy  nest  as  high  as  the  eagle,' 

1  will  bring  thee  down  from  thence — it  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah." 

Pliny   speaks  of  the   Edomite  capital  as  "oppidum 

^  Obadiah  11-15.  The  difference  between  A, V.  and  R.V.  is  more 
apparent  than  real.  The  prohibition  which  R.V.  gives  must  have 
been  based  on  experience.  The  short  prophecy  of  Obadiah  has  very 
much  in  common  with  this  section  of  Jeremiah  :  Obad.  1-6,  8,  are 
almost  identical  with  Jer.  xlix.  14-16,  9,  loa,  7.  The  relation  of 
the  two  passages  is  matter  of  controversy,  but  probably  both  use  a 
common  original.     Cf.  Driver's  Introduction  on  Obadiah. 

^  Lit.  "  thy  terror,"  i.e.  the  terror  inspired  by  thy  fate.  A.V.,  R.V., 
"  thy  ten  ibleness,"  suggests  that  Edom  trusted  in  the  terror  felt  for 
him  by  his  enemies,  but  we  can  scarcely  suppose  that  even  the 
fiercest  highlanders  expected  Nebuchadnezzar  to  be  terrified  at  them. 

^  Obad.  4  :  "Though  thou  set  thy  nest  among  the  stars." 


xlix.  7-22.]  EDOM  245 

circumdatum  montibus  inaccessis,"  ^  and  doubtless  the 
children  of  Esau  had  often  watched  from  their  eyrie 
Assyrian  and  Chaldean  armies  on  the  march  to  plunder 
more  defenceless  victims,  and  trusted  that  their  strength, 
their  good  fortune,  and  their  ancient  and  proverbial 
wisdom  would  still  hold  them  scatheless.  Their  neigh- 
bours— the  Jews  amongst  the  rest — might  be  plundered, 
massacred,  and  carried  away  captive,  but  Edom  could 
look  on  in  careless  security,  and  find  its  account  in 
the  calamities  of  kindred  tribes.  If  Jerusalem  was 
shattered  by  the  Chaldean  tempest,  the  Edomites 
would  play  the  part  of  wreckers.  But  all  this  shrewd- 
ness was  mere  folly  :  how  could  these  Solons  of  Mount 
Seir  prove  so  unworthy  of  their  reputation  ? 

"  Is  wisdom  no  more  in  Teman  ? 
Has  counsel  perished  from  the  prudent  ? 
Has  their  wisdom  vanished  ?  " 

They  thought  that  Jehovah  would  punish  Jacob  whom 
He  loved,  and  yet  spare  Esau  whom  He  hated.    But : — 

"  Thus  saith  Jehovah  : 
Behold,    they    to    whom    it    pertained    not    to    drink    of  the   cup 

shall  assuredly  drink. 
Art  thou  he  that  shall  go  altogether  unpunished  ? 
Thou    shalt     not     go     unpunished,     but     thou     shalt     assuredly 

drink"  (12). 

Ay,  and  drink  to  the  dregs  : — 

"  If  grape-gatherers  come  to  thee,  would  they  not  leave  gleanings  ? 
If  thieves  came  by  night,  they  would  only  destroy  till  they  had  enough. 
But   I  have  made  Esau    bare,  I   have  stripped  him  stark  naked  ; 

he  shall  not  be  able  to  hide  himself. 
His   children,  and    his   brethren,    and    his    neighbours    are   given 
up  to  plunder,  and  there  is  an  end  of  him  "  (9,  10). 
"  I  have  sworn  by  Myself — is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah — 
That   Bozrah    shall   become   an   astonishment,  a  reproach,  a  de- 
solation, and  a  curse; 

'  Hist  Nat,  vi.  28.     Orelli. 


246  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

All  her  cities  shall  become  perpetual  wastes. 

I  have  heard   tidings  from  Jehovah,  and  an   ambassador  is  sent 

among  the  nations,  saying, 
Gather    yourselves    together    and     come    against    her,    arise    to 

battle"  (13,  14). 

There  was  obviously  but  one  leader  who  could  lead 
the  nations  to  achieve  the  overthrow  of  Edom  and 
lead  her  little  ones  away  captive,  who  could  come  up 
like  a  Hon  from  the  thickets  of  Jordan,  or  ''  flying  Hke 
an  eagle  and  spreading  his  wings  against  Bozrah  "  (22) 
— Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Babylon,  who  had  come  up 
against  Judah  with  all  the  kingdoms  and  peoples  of 
his  dominions/ 

In  this  picture  of  chastisement  and  calamity,  there 
is  one  apparent  touch  of  pitifulness  : — 

"  Leave  thine  orphans,   I  will  preserve  their  lives ; 
Let  thy  widows  put  their  trust  in  Me"'  (11). 

At  first  sight,  at  any  rate,  these  seem  to  be  the  words 
of  Jehovah.  All  the  adult  males  of  Edom  would  perish, 
yet  the  helpless  widov/s  and  orphans  would  not  be 
without  a  protector.  The  God  of  Israel  would  watch 
over  the  lambs  of  Edom,^  when  they  were  dragged 
away  into  captivity.  We  are  reluctant  to  surrender 
this  beautiful  and  touching  description  of  a  God,  who, 
though  He  may  visit  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon 
the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation, 
yet  even  in  such  judgment  ever  remembers  mercy.  It 
is  impossible,  however,  to  ignore  the  fact  that  such 
ideas  are  widely  different  from  the  tone  and  sentiment 
of  the  rest  of  the  section.  These  words  may  be  an 
immediate  sequel  to  the  previous  verse,  ^^  No  Edomite 
survives  to  say  to  his  dying  brethren,  Leave  thine 
orphans  to  me,"  or  possibly  they  may   be  quoted,  in 

*  xxxiv.  I.  ^  Verse  20. 


xlix.  7-22.]  EDOM  247 

bitter  irony,  from  some  message  from  Edom  to  Jeru- 
salem, inviting  the  Jews  to  send  their  wives  and 
children  for  safety  to  Mount  Seir.  Edom,  ungrateful 
and  treacherous  Edom,  shall  utterly  perish — Edom  that 
offered  an  asylum  to  Jewish  refugees,  and  yet  shared 
the  plunder  of  Jerusalem  and  betrayed  her  fugitives 
to  the  Chaldeans. 

There  is  no  word  of  restoration.  Moab  and  Ammon 
and  Elam  might  revive  and  flourish  again,  but  for 
Esau,  as  of  old,  there  should  be  no  place  of  repentance. 
For  Edom,  in  the  days  of  the  Captivity,  trespassed 
upon  the  inheritance  of  Israel  more  grievously  than 
Ammon  and  Moab  upon  Reuben  and  Gad,  The 
Edomites  possessed  themselves  of  the  rich  pastures 
of  the  south  of  Judah,  and  the  land  was  thenceforth 
called  Idumea.  Thus  they  earned  the  undying  hatred 
of  the  Jews,  in  whose  mouths  Edom  became  a  curse 
and  a  reproach,  a  term  of  opprobrium.  Like  Babylon, 
Edom  was  used  as  a  secret  name  for  Rome,  and  later 
on  for  the  Christian  Church. 

Nevertheless,  even  in  this  prophecy,  there  is  a  hint 
that  these  predictions  of  utter  ruin  must  not  be  taken 
too  literally  : — 

"  For,  behold,  I  will  make  thee  small  among  the  nations. 
Despised  among  men"  (15). 

These  words  are  scarcely  consistent  with  the  other 
verses,  which  imply  that,  as  a  people,  Edom  would 
utterly  perish  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  Edom  flourished  in  her  new  territory 
till  the  time  of  the  Maccabees,  and  when  the  Messiah 
came  to  establish  the  Kingdom  of  God,  instead  of 
**  saviours  standing  on  Mount  Zion  to  judge  the  Mount  of 
Esau,"  ^  an  Edomite  dynasty  was  reigning  in  Jerusalem. 

*  Obadiah  21. 


CHAPTER    XXII 

DAMASCUS 

xlix.   23-27. 

"I  will  kindle  a  fire  in  the  wall  of  Damascus,  and  it  shall  devour 
the  palaces  of  Benhadad." — Jer,  xlix.  27. 

WE  are  a  little  surprised  to  meet  with  a  prophecy 
of  Jeremiah  concerning  Damascus  and  the 
palaces  of  Benhadad.  The  names  carry  our  minds  back 
for  more  than  a  couple  of  centuries.  During  Elisha's 
ministry,  Damascus  and  Samaria  were  engaged  in  their 
long,  fierce  duel  for  the  supremacy  over  Syria  and 
Palestine.  In  the  reign  of  Ahaz  these  ancient  rivals 
combined  to  attack  Judah,  so  that  Isaiah  is  keenly 
interested  in  Damascus  and  its  fortunes.  But  about 
B.C.  745,  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  before 
Jeremiah's  time,  the  Assyrian  king  Tiglath-Pileser  ^ 
overthrew  the  Syrian  kingdom  and  carried  its  people 
into  captivity.  We  know  from  Ezekiel,^  what  we 
might  have  surmised  from  the  position  and  later 
history  of  Damascus,  that  this  ancient  city  continued 
a  wealthy  commercial  centre ;  but  Ezekiel  has  no  oracle 
concerning  Damascus,  and  the  other  documents  of  the 
period  and  of  later  times  do  not  mention  the  capital  of 
Benhadad.     Its  name  does  not  even  occur  in  Jeremiah's 


2  Kings  xvi.  9.  '^  Ezek.  xxvii.   18. 

248 


xlix.  23-27.]  DAMASCUS  249 

exhaustive  list  of  the  countries  of  his  world  in  xxv. 
15-26.  Religious  interest  in  alien  races  depended  on 
their  political  relations  with  Israel ;  when  the  latter 
ceased,  the  prophets  had  no  word  from  Jehovah  con- 
cerning foreign  nations.  Such  considerations  have 
suggested  doubts  as  to  the  authenticity  of  this  section, 
and  it  has  been  supposed  that  it  may  be  a  late  echo  of 
Isaiah's  utterances  concerning  Damascus. 

We  know,  however,  too  little  of  the  history  of  the 
period  to  warrant  such  a  conclusion.  Damascus  would 
continue  to  exist  as  a  tributary  state,  and  might  furnish 
auxiliary  forces  to  the  enemies  of  Judah  or  join  with 
her  to  conspire  against  Babylon,  and  would  in  either 
case  attract  Jeremiah's  attention.  Moreover,  in  ancient 
as  in  modern  times,  commerce  played  its  part  in  inter- 
national politics.  Doubtless  slaves  were  part  of  the 
merchandise  of  Damascus,  just  as  they  were  among 
the  wares  of  the  Apocalyptic  Babylon.  JoeP  denounces 
Tyre  and  Zidon  for  selling  Jews  to  the  Greeks,  and 
the  Damascenes  ma}^  have  served  as  slave-agents  to 
Nebuchadnezzar  and  his  captains,  and  thus  provoked 
the  resentment  of  patriot  Jews.  So  many  picturesque 
and  romantic  associations  cluster  around  Damascus, 
that  this  section  of  Jeremiah  almost  strikes  a  jarring 
note.  We  love  to  think  of  this  fairest  of  Oriental  cities, 
"  half  as  old  as  time,"  as  the  ''  Eye  of  the  East "  which 
Mohammed  refused  to  enter — because  '^  Man,"  he  said, 
^'  can  have  but  one  paradise,  and  my  paradise  is  fixed 
above  " — and  as  the  capital  of  Noureddin  and  his  still 
more  famous  successor  Saladin.  And  so  we  regret 
that,  when  it  emerges  from  the  obscurity  of  centuries 
into  the  light  of  Biblical  narrative,  the  brief  reference 

'  Joel  iii.  4. 


250  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

should  suggest  a  disaster  such  as  it  endured  in  later 
days  at  the  hands  of  the  treacherous  and  ruthless 
Tamerlane. 

"  Damascus  hath  grown  feeble : 
She  turneth  herself  to  flee  ; 
Trembling  hath  seized  on  her. 

How  is  the  city  of  praise  forsaken,' 

The  city  of  joy  ! 

Her  young  men  shall  fall  in  the  streets, 

All  the  warriors  shall  be  put  to  silence  in  that  day." 

We  are  moved  to  sympathy  with  the  feelings  of 
Hamath  and  Arpad,  when  they  heard  the  evil  tidings, 
and  were  filled  with  sorrov/,  '*  like  the  sea  that  cannot 
rest." 

Yet  even  here  this  most  uncompromising  of  prophets 
may  teach  us,  after  his  fashion,  wholesome  though 
perhaps  unwelcome  truths.  We  are  reminded  how 
often  the  mystic  glamxour  of  romance  has  served  to 
veil  cruelty  and  corruption,  and  how  little  picturesque 
scenery  and  interesting  associations  can  do  of  them- 
selves to  promote  a  noble  life.  Feudal  castles,  with 
their  massive  grandeur,  were  the  strongholds  of  avarice 
and  cruelty ;  and  ancient  abbeys  which,  even  in  decay, 
are  like  a  dream  of  fairyland,  were  sometimes  the  home 
of  abominable  corruption. 


'  So  Giesebrecht,  with  most  of  the  ancient  versions.  A.V.,  R.V., 
with  Masoretic  Text,  "  not  forsaken  ...  my  joy,"  possibly  meaning, 
"Why  did  not  the  inhabitants  forsake  the  doomed  city?" 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

KEDAR  AND  HAZOR 

xlix.  28-33. 

"Concerning  Kedar,  and  the  kingdoms  of  Hazor  which  Nebuchad- 
nezzar king  of  Babylon  smote." — Jer.  xHx.  28. 

FROM  an  immemorial  seat  of  human  culture,  an 
'^ eternal  city"  which  antedates  Rome  by  cen- 
turies, if  not  millenniums,  we  turn  to  those  Arab  tribes 
whose  national  life  and  habits  were  as  ancient  and 
have  been  as  persistent  as  the  streets  of  Damascus. 
While  Damascus  has  almost  always  been  in  the 
forefront  of  history,  the  Arab  tribes — except  in  the 
time  of  Mohammed  and  the  early  Caliphs — have  seldom 
played  a  more  important  part  than  that  of  frontier 
marauders.  Hence,  apart  from  a  few  casual  references, 
the  only  other  passage  in  the  Old  Testament  which 
deals,  at  any  length,  with  Kedar  is  the  parallel  prophecy 
of  Isaiah.  And  yet  Kedar  was  the  great  northern  tribe, 
which  ranged  the  deserts  between  Palestine  and  the 
Euphrates,  and  which  must  have  had  closer  relations 
with  Judah  than  most  Arab  peoples. 

"The  kingdoms  of  Hazor"  are  still  more  unknown 
to  history.  There  were  several  ''  Hazors  "  in  Palestine, 
besides  sundry  towns  whose  names  are  also  derived 
from  Hdger,  a  village  ;  and  some  of  these  are  on  or 
beyond  the  southern  frontier  of  Judah,  in  the  wilderness 

251 


252  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

of  the  Exodus,  where  we  might  expect  to  find  nomad 
Arabs.  But  even  these  latter  cities  can  scarcely  be  the 
"  Hazor  "  of  Jeremiah,  and  the  more  northern  are  quite 
out  of  the  question.  It  is  generally  supposed  that 
Hazor  here  is  either  some  Arabian  town,  or,  more 
probably,  a  collective  term  for  the  district  inhabited 
by  Arabs,  who  lived  not  in  tents,  but  in  Hd^erhn,  or 
villages.  This  district  would  be  in  Arabia  itself,  and 
more  distant  from  Palestine  than  the  deserts  over 
which  Kedar  roamed.  Possibly  Isaiah's  "  villages 
(Hd^ermi)  that  Kedar  doth  inhabit  "  were  to  be  found 
in  the  Hazor  of  Jeremiah,  and  the  same  people  were 
called  Kedar  and  Hazor  respectively  according  as 
they  lived  a  nomad  life  or  settled  in  more  permanent 
dwellings. 

The  great  warlike  enterprises  of  Egypt,  Assyria, 
and  Chaldea  during  the  last  centuries  of  the  Jewish 
monarchy  would  bring  these  desert  horsemen  into 
special  prominence.  They  could  either  further  or 
hinder  the,  advance  of  armies  marching  westward  from 
Mesopotamia,  and  could  command  their  lines  of 
communication.  Kedar,  and  possibly  Hazor  too, 
would  not  be  slack  to  use  the  opportunities  of  plunder 
presented  by  the  calamities  of  the  Palestinian  states. 
Hence  their  conspicuous  position  in  the  pages  of  Isaiah 
and  Jeremiah. 

As  the  Assyrians,  when  their  power  was  at  its  height, 
had  chastised  the  aggressions  of  the  Arabs,  so  now 
Nebuchadnezzar  '*  smote  Kedar  and  the  kingdoms  of 
Hazor."  Even  the  wandering  nomads  and  dwellers  by 
distant  oases  in  trackless  deserts  could  not  escape  the 
sweeping  activity  of  this  scourge  of  God.  Doubtless 
the  ravages  of  Chaldean  armies  might  serve  to  punish 
many   sins   besides   the   wrongs    they   were    sent    to 

( 


xlix.  28-33-]  KEDAR  AND  HAZOR  253 

revenge.  The  Bedouin  always  had  their  virtues,  but 
the  wild  liberty  of  the  desert  easily  degenerated  into 
unbridled  licence.  Judah  and  every  state  bordering  on 
the  wilderness  knew  by  painful  experience  how  large 
a  measure  of  rapine  and  cruelty  might  coexist  with 
primitive  customs,  and  the  Jewish  prophet  gives 
Nebuchadnezzar  a  Divine  commission  as  for  a  holy 
war : — 

"Arise,  go  up  to  Kedar; 
Spoil  the  men  of  the  east. 

They  (the  Chaldeans)  shall  take  away  their  tents  and  flocks ; 
They  shall  take  for  themselves  their  tent-coverings, 
And  all  their  gear  and  their  camels  : 
Men  shall  cry  concerning  them, 
Terror  on  every  side."  ' 

Then  the  prophet  turns  to  the  more  distant  Hazor 
with  words  of  warning  : — 

"Flee,    get    you    far    off,    dwell    in    hidden  recesses    of  the  land, 
O  inhabitants  of  Hazor — 
It  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah — 

For     Nebuchadnezzar     king    of    Babylon    hath     counselled     a 
counsel  and  purposed  a  purpose  against  you." 

But  then,  as  if  this  warning  were  a  mere  taunt,  he 
renews  his  address  to  the  Chaldeans  and  directs  their 
attack  against  Hazor  : — 

"Arise,    go   up    against  a   nation    that   is  at    ease,  that    dwelleth 
without  fear — it  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah — 
Which  abide  alone,  without  gates  or  bars" — 

like  the  people  of  Laish  before  the  Danites  came,  and 
like  Sparta  before  the  days  of  Epaminondas. 

Possibly  we  are  to  combine  these  successive  ^'  utter- 
ances," and  to  understand  that  it  was  alike  Jehovah's 
will  that  the  Chaldeans  should  invade  and  lay  waste 

'  Magor-missabib :  cf.  xlvi.  5. 


254  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Hazor,    and   that   the   unfortunate  inhabitants  should 
escape — but  escape  plundered  and  impoverished  :  for 

"  Their  camels  shall  become  a  spoil, 
The  multitude  of  their  cattle  a  prey  : 
I    will    scatter    to   every  wind   them   that  have   the  corners  of 

their  hair  polled ;  * 
I  will  bring  their  calamity  upon  them  from  all  sides. 
Hazor  shall  be  a  haunt  of  jackals,  a  desolation  for  ever : 
No  one  shall  dwell  there, 
No  soul  shall  sojourn  therein." 

'  I.e.  cut  off. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

ELAM 

xlix.  34-39 

"I  will  break   the  bow  of  Elam,  the  chief  of  their  might." — Jer. 
xlix.  35. 

WE  do  not  know  what  principle  or  absence  of 
principle  determined  the  arrangement  of  these 
prophecies;  but,  in  any  case,  these  studies  in  ancient 
geography  and  politics  present  a  series  of  dramatic 
contrasts.  From  two  ancient  and  enduring  types  of 
Eastern  hfe,  the  city  of  Damascus  and  the  Bedouin 
of  the  desert,  we  pass  to  a  state  of  an  entirely  different 
order,  only  slightly  connected  with  the  international 
system  of  Western  Asia.  Elam  contended  for  the  palm 
of  supremacy  with  Assyria  and  Babylon  in  the  farther 
east,  as  Egypt  did  to  the  south-west.  Before  the  time 
of  Abraham  Elamite  kings  ruled  over  Chaldea,  and 
Genesis  xiv.  tells  us  how  Chedorlaomer  with  his  sub- 
ject-allies collected  his  tribute  in  Palestine.  Many 
centuries  later,  the  Assyrian  king  Ashur-bani-pal  (b.c. 
668 — 626)  conquered  Elam,  sacked  the  capital  Shushan, 
and  carried  away  many  of  the  inhabitants  into  cap- 
tivity. According  to  Ezra  iv.  9,  10,  Elamites  were 
among  the  mingled  population  whom  "the  great  and 
noble  Asnapper  "  (probably  Ashur-bani-pal)  settled  in 
Samaria. 

255 


256  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

When  we  begin  to  recall  even  a  few  of  the  striking 
facts  concerning  Elam  discovered  in  the  last  fifty  years, 
and  remember  that  for  millenniums  Elam  had  played  the 
part  of  a  first-class  Asiatic  power,  we  are  tempted  to 
wonder  that  Jeremiah  only  devotes  a  few  conventional 
sentences  to  this  great  nation.  But  the  prophet's 
interest  was  simply  determined  by  the  relations  of 
Elam  with  Judah;  and,  from  this  point  of  view,  an 
opposite  difficulty  arises.  How  came  the  Jews  in 
Palestine  in  the  time  of  Jeremiah  to  have  any  concern 
with  a  people  dwelling  beyond  the  Euphrates  and 
Tigris,  on  the  farther  side  of  the  Chaldean  dominions  ? 
One  answer  to  this  question  has  already  been  suggested  : 
the  Jews  may  have  learnt  from  the  Elamite  colonists 
in  Samaria  something  concerning  their  native  country ; 
it  is  also  probable  that  Elamite  auxiliaries  served  in 
the  Chaldean  armies  that  invaded  Judah. 

Accordingly  the  prophet  sets  forth,  in  terms  already 
familiar  to  us,  how  Elamite  fugitives  should  be  scattered 
to  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth  and  be  found  in  every 
nation  under  heaven,  how  the  sword  should  follow 
them  into  their  distant  places  of  refuge  and  utterly 
consume  them. 

"  I  will  set  My  throne  in  Elam ; 
I  will  destroy  out  of  it  both  king  and  princes — 
It  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah." 

In  the  prophecy  concerning  Egypt,  Nebuchadnezzar 
was  to  set  his  throne  at  Tahpanhes  to  decide  the  fate 
of  the  captives ;  but  here  Jehovah  Himself  is  pictured 
as  the  triumphant  and  inexorable  conqueror,  holding 
His  court  as  the  arbiter  of  life  and  death.  The  vision 
of  the  "great  white  throne"  was  not  first  accorded  to 
John  in  his  Apocalypse.  Jeremiah's  eyes  were  opened 
to  see  beside  the  tribunals  of  heathen  conquerors  the 


xlix.  34-39-]  ELAM  257 

judgment-seat  of  a  mightier  Potentate  ;  and  his  inspired 
utterances  remind  the  beHever  that  every  battle  may 
be  an  Armageddon,  and  that  at  every  congress  there 
is  set  a  mystic  throne  from  which  the  Eternal  King 
overrules  the  decisions  of  plenipotentiaries. 

But  this  sentence  of  condemnation  was  not  to  be  the 
final  *'  utterance  of  Jehovah  "  with  regard  to  Elam.  A 
day  of  renewed  prosperity  was  to  dawn  for  Elam,  as 
well  as  for  Moab,  Ammon,  Egypt,  and  Judah  : — 

"In  the  latter  days  I  will  bring  again  the  captivity  of  Elam — 
It  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah." 

The  Apostle  Peter  ^  tells  us  that  the  prophets  "  sought 
and  searched  diligently  "  concerning  the  application  of 
their  words,  **  searching  what  time  and  what  manner 
of  time  the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  them  did  point 
unto."  We  gather  from  these  verses  that,  as  Newton 
could  not  have  foreseen  all  that  was  contained  in  the 
law  of  gravitation,  so  the  prophets  often  understood 
little  of  what  was  involved  in  their  own  inspiration. 
We  could  scarcely  have  a  better  example  than  this 
prophecy  affords  of  the  knowledge  of  the  principles 
of  God's  future  action  combined  with  ignorance  of  its 
circumstances  and  details.  If  we  may  credit  the  current 
theory,  Cyrus,  the  servant  of  Jehovah,  the  deliverer  of 
Judah,  was  a  king  of  Elam.  If  Jeremiah  had  foreseen 
how  his  prophecies  of  the  restoration  of  Elam  and  of 
Judah  would  be  fulfilled,  we  may  be  sure  that  this 
utterance  would  not  have  been  so  brief,  its  hostile  tone 
would  have  been  mitigated,  and  the  concluding  sentence 
would  not  have  been  so  cold  and  conventional. 

•  I  Peter  i.  10,  11. 

17 


CHAPTER   XXV 

BABYLON 

1.,  li. 

"Babylon   is   taken,  Bel   is  confounded,    Merodach   is   broken  in 
pieces." — Jer.  1.  2. 

THESE  chapters  present  phenomena  analogous  to 
those  of  Isaiah  xl. — Ixvi.,  and  have  been  very 
commonly  ascribed  to  an  author  writing  at  Babylon 
towards  the  close  of  the  Exile,  or  even  at  some  later 
date.  The  conclusion  has  been  arrived  at  in  both 
cases  by  the  application  of  the  same  critical  principles 
to  similar  data.  In  the  present  case  the  argument  is 
complicated  by  the  concluding  paragraph  of  chapter  li., 
which  states  that  ''Jeremiah  wrote  in  a  book  all  the 
evil  that  should  come  upon  Babylon,  even  all  these 
words  that  are  written  against  Babylon,"  in  the  fourth 
year  of  Zedekiah,  and  gave  the  book  to  Seraiah  ben 
Neriah  to  take  to  Babylon  and  tie  a  stone  to  it  and 
throw  it  into  the  Euphrates. 

Such  a  statement,  however,  cuts  both  ways.  On 
the  one  hand,  we  seem  to  have — what  is  wanting  in  the 
case  of  Isaiah  xl. — Ixvi. — a  definite  and  circumstantial 
testimony  as  to  authorship.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
this  very  testimony  raises  new  difficulties.  If  1.  and  11. 
had  been  simply  assigned  to  Jeremiah,  without  any 
specification  of  date,  we  might  possibly  have  accepted 
the  tradition  according  to  which  he  spent  his  last  years 

258 


1.,  li.]  BABYLON  259 

at  Babylon,  and  have  supposed  that  altered  circum- 
stances and  novel  experiences  account  for  the  differences 
between  these  chapters  and  the  rest  of  the  book.  But 
Zedekiah's  fourth  year  is  a  point  in  the  prophet's 
ministry  at  which  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  account 
for  his  having  composed  such  a  prophecy.  If,  how- 
ever, li.  59-64  is  mistaken  in  its  exact  and  circumstantial 
account  of  the  origin  of  the  preceding  section,  we  must 
hesitate  to  recognise  its  authority  as  to  that  section's 
authorship. 

A  detailed  discussion  of  the  question  would  be  out 
of  place  here,^  but  we  may  notice  a  few  passages  which 
illustrate  the  arguments  for  an  exilic  date.  We  learn 
from  Jeremiah  xxvii. — xxix.  that,  in  the  fourth  year  of 
Zedekiah,^  the  prophet  was  denouncing  as  false  teachers 
those  v/ho  predicted  that  the  Jewish  captives  in  Babylon 
w^ould  speedily  return  to  their  native  land.  He  him- 
self asserted  that  judgment  would  not  be  inflicted  upon 
Babylon  for  seventy  years,  and  exhorted  the  exiles  to 
build  houses  and  marry,  and  plant  gardens,  and  to 
pray  for  the  peace  of  Babylon.^  We  can  hardly 
imagine  that,  in  the  same  breath  almost,  he  called  upon 
these  exiles  to  flee  from  the  city  of  their  captivity,  and 
summoned  the  neighbouring  nations  to  execute  Jehovah's 
judgment  against  the  oppressors  of  His  people.  And 
yet  we  read  : — 

"There  shall  come  the  Israelites,  they  and  the  Jews  together: 
They  shall  weep  continually,  as  they  go  to  seek  Jehovah  their 
God; 

'  See  against  the  authenticity  Driver's  Introduction,  in  loco;  and 
in  support  of  it  Speaker's  Commentary,  Streane  (C.B.S.).  Cf.  also 
Sayce,  Higher  Criticism,  etc.,  pp.  484-486. 

*  In  xxvii.  I  we  must  read,  "In  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
Zedekiah,"  not  Jehoiakim* 


26o  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


They   shall   ask   their   way   to   Zion,    with   their   faces  hither- 
ward"'  (1.  4,  5). 

"  Remove   from  the   midst   of  Babylon,  and    be   ye   as   he-goats 
before  the  flock"  (1.  8). 

These  verses  imply  that  the  Jews  were  already  in 
Babylon,  and  throughout  the  author  assumes  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  Exile.  "  The  vengeance  of  the 
Temple,"  i.e.  vengeance  for  the  destruction  of  the 
Temple  at  the  final  capture  of  Jerusalem,  is  twice 
threatened.^  The  ruin  of  Babylon  is  described  as 
imminent : — 

"Set  up  a  standard  on  the  earth, 
Blow  the  trumpet  among  the  nations, 
Prepare  the  nations  against  her." 

If  these  words  were  written  by  Jeremiah  in  the 
fourth  year  of  Zedekiah,  he  certainly  was  not  practising 
his  own  precept  to  pray  for  the  peace  of  Babylon. 

Various  theories  have  been  advanced  to  meet  the 
difficulties  which  are  raised  by  the  ascription  of  this 
prophecy  to  Jeremiah.  It  may  have  been  expanded 
from  an  authentic  original.  Or  again,  li.  59-64  may 
not  really  refer  to  1.  i — li.  58;  the  two  sections  may 
once  have  existed  separately,  and  may  owe  their  con- 
nection to  an  editor,  who  met  with  1.  i — li.  58  as  an 
anonymous  document,  and  thought  he  recognised  in 
it  the  ''  book "  referred  to  in  li.  59-64.  Or  again, 
1.  I — li.  58  may  be  a  hypothetical  reconstruction  of  a 
lost  prophecy  of  Jeremiah  ;  li.  59-64  mentioned  such 
a  prophecy  and  none  was  extant,  and  some  student  and 
disciple  of  Jeremiah's  school  utilised  the  material  and 

'  "Hitherward"  seems  to  indicate  that  the  writer's  local  stand- 
point is  that  of  Palestine. 
''  1.  28,  li.  II. 


l.,li.]  BABYLON  261 

ideas  of  extant  writings  to  supply  the  gap.  In  any 
case,  it  must  have  been  edited  more  than  once,  and 
each  time  with  modifications.  Some  support  might  be 
obtained  for  any  one  of  these  theories  from  the  fact  that 
1.  I — li.  58  \s  prima  facie  partly  a  cento  of  passages  from 
the  rest  of  the  book  and  from  the  Book  of  Isaiah.^ 

In  view  of  the  great  uncertainty  as  to  the  origin  and 
history  of  this  prophecy,  we  do  not  intend  to  attempt 
any  detailed  exposition.  Elsewhere  whatever  non- 
Jeremianic  matter  occurs  in  the  book  is  mostly  by  way 
of  expansion  and  interpretation,  and  thus  lies  in  the 
direct  line  of  the  prophet's  teaching.  But  the  section 
on  Babylon  attaches  itself  to  the  new  departure  in 
religious  thought  that  is  more  fully  expressed  in 
Isaiah  xl. — Ixvi.  Chapters  1.,  li.,  may  possibly  be 
Jeremiah's  swan-song,  called  forth  by  one  of  those 
Pisgah  visions  of  a  new  dispensation  sometimes  granted 
to  aged  seers;  but  such  visions  of  a  new  era  and  a 
new  order  can  scarcely  be  combined  with  earlier  teaching. 
We  will  therefore  only  briefly  indicate  the  character 
and  contents  of  this  section. 

It  is  apparently  a  mosaic,  compiled  from  lost  as 
well  as  extant  sources  ;  and  dwells  upon  a  few  themes 
with  a  persistent  iteration  of  ideas  and  phrases  hardly 
to  be  paralleled  elsewhere,  even  in  the  Book  of  Jeremiah. 
It  has  been  reckoned  -  that  the  imminence  of  the  attack 
on  Babylon  is  introduced  afresh  eleven  times,  and  its 
conquest  and  destruction  nine  times.  The  advent  of 
an  enemy  from  the  north  is  announced  four  times.' 

The  main  theme  is  naturally  that  dwelt  upon  most 

'   Cf.  1.  8,  li.  6,  with  Isa.  xlviii.  20;  1.  13  with  xlix.  17;  1.  41-43  with 
vi.  22-24;  1-  44-46  with  xlix.  19-21  ;  li.  15-19  with  x.  12-16. 
-  Budde  ap.  Giesebrecht,  in  loco. 
»  1.  3,  9,  li.  41,  48. 


262  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

frequently,  the  imminent  invasion  of  Chaldea  by 
victorious  enemies  who  shall  capture  and  destroy 
Babylon.  Hereafter  the  great  city  and  its  territory 
will  be  a  waste,  howling  wilderness  : — 

"Your  mother  shall  be  sore  ashamed, 
She  that  bare  you  shall  be  confounded  ; 
Behold,  she  shall  be  the  hindmost  of  the  nations, 
A  wilderness,  a  parched  land,  and  a  desert. 
Because  of  the  wrath  of  Jehovah,  it  shall  be  uninhabited ; 
The  whole  land  shall  be  a  desolation. 
Every  one  that  goeth  by  Babylon 
Shall  hiss  with  astonishment  because  of  all  her  plagues."  ' 

The  gods  of  Babylon,  Bel  and  Merodach,  and  all  her 
idols,  are  involved  in  her  ruin,  and  reference  is  made 
to  the  vanity  and  folly  of  idolatry.^  But  the  wrath 
of  Jehovah  has  been  chiefly  excited,  not  by  false 
religion,  but  by  the  wrongs  inflicted  by  the  Chaldeans 
on  His  Chosen  People.  He  is  moved  to  avenge  His 
Temple  ^  : — 

"  I  will  recompense  unto  Babylon 
And  all  the  inhabitants  of  Chaldea 
All  the  evil  which  they  wrought  in  Zion, 
And  ye  shall  see  it — it  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah  "  (li.  24). 

Though  He  thus  avenge  Judah,  yet  its  former  sins  are 
not  yet  blotted  out  of  the  book  of  His  remembrance  : — 

"Their  adversaries  said.  We  incur  no  guilt, 
Because    they    have    sinned    against    Jehovah,    the    Pasture    of 

Justice, 
Against  the  Hope  of  their  fathers,  even  Jehovah  "  (1.  7). 

Yet  now  there  is  forgiveness  : — 

"  The  iniquity   of   Israel   shall   be   sought   for,    and  there   shall  be 
none; 

•  1.  12,  13  :  cf.  1.  39,  40,  li.  26,  29,  37,  41-43. 
^  li.  17,  18.  -"  1.  28, 


l.,li.]  BABYLON  263 

And     he  sins  of  Judab,  and  they  shall  not  be  found : 
For  I  will  pardon  the  remnant  that  I  preserve  "  (1.  20). 

The  Jews  are  urged  to  flee  from  Babylon,  lest  they 
should  be  involved  in  its  punishment,  and  are 
encouraged  to  return  to  Jerusalem  and  enter  afresh 
into  an  everlasting  covenant  with  Jehovah.  As  in 
Jeremiah  xxxi.,  Israel  is  to  be  restored  as  well  as 
Judah  : — 

"  I  will  bring  Israel  again  to  his  Pasture  : 
He  shall  feed  on  Carmel  and  Bashan ; 

His  desires  shall  be  satisfied  on   the   hills  of  Ephraim   and 
in  Gilead"  (1.   19). 


BOOK    III 

JEREMIAH'S    TEACHING    CONCERNING 
ISRAEL    AND  JUDAH 


265 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

INTRODUCTORY 

"  I  will  be  the  God  of  all  the  families  of  Israel,  and  they  shall  be  My 
people." — Jer.  xxxi.  i. 

IN  this  third  book  an  attempt  is  made  to  present  a 
general  view  of  Jeremiah's  teaching  on  the  subject 
with  which  he  was  most  preoccupied — the  poUtical  and 
rehgious  fortunes  of  Judah.  Certain  ^  chapters  detach 
themselves  from  the  rest,  and  stand  in  no  obvious 
connection  with  any  special  incident  of  the  prophet's 
life.  These  are  the  main  theme  of  this  book,  and  have 
been  dealt  with  in  the  ordinary  method  of  detailed 
exposition.  They  have  been  treated  separately,  and 
not  woven  into  the  continuous  narrative,  partly  because 
we  thus  obtain  a  more  adequate  emphasis  upon  im- 
portant aspects  of  their  teaching,  but  chiefly  because 
their  date  and  occasion  cannot  be  certainly  determined. 
With  them  other  sections  have  been  associated,  on 
account  of  the  connection  of  subject.  Further  material 
for  a  synopsis  of  Jeremiah's  teaching  has  been  collected 
from  chapters  xxi. — xlix.  generally,  supplemented  by 
brief ^  references  to  the  previous  chapters.  Inasmuch 
as  the  prophecies  of  our  book  do  not  form  an  ordered 

'  XXX.,  xxxi,,  and,  in  part,  xxxiii. 

2  Brief,  in  order  not  to  trespass  more  than  is  absolutely  necessary 
upon  the  ground  covered  by  the  previous  Expositor'' s  Bible  volume 
on  Jeremiah. 

267 


268  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


treatise  on  dogmatic  theology,  but  were  uttered  with 
regard  to  individual  conduct  and  critical  events,  topics 
are  not  exclusively  dealt  with  in  a  single  section,  but 
are  referred  to  at  intervals  throughout.  Moreover,  as 
both  the  individuals  and  the  crises  were  very  much 
aUke,  ideas  and  phrases  are  constantly  reappearing, 
so  that  there  is  an  exceptionally  large  amount  of 
repetition  in  the  Book  of  Jeremiah.  The  method  we 
have  adopted  avoids  some  of  the  difficulties  which 
would  arise  if  we  attempted  to  deal  with  these  doctrines 
in  our  continuous  exposition. 

Our  general  sketch  of  the  prophet's  teaching  is 
naturally  arranged  under  categories  suggested  by  the 
book  itself,  and  not  according  to  the  sections  of  a 
modern  treatise  on  Systematic  Theology.  No  doubt 
much  may  legitimately  be  extracted  or  deduced  con- 
cerning Anthropology,  Soteriology,  and  the  like  ;  but 
true  proportion  is  as  important  in  exposition  as 
accurate  interpretation.  If  we  wish  to  understand 
Jeremiah,  we  must  be  content  to  dwell  longest  upon 
what  he  emphasised  most,  and  to  adopt  the  standpoint 
of  time  and  race  which  was  his  own.  Accordingly  in 
our  treatment  we  have  followed  the  cycle  of  sin, 
punishment,  and  restoration,  so  familiar  to  students 
of  Hebrew  prophecy. 


NOTE 

SOME  CHARACTERISTIC   EXPRESSIONS  OF 
JEREMIAH 

This  note  is  added  partly  for  convenience  of  reference,  and 
partly  to  illustrate  the  repetition  just  mentioned  as  characteristic 
of  Jeremiah.  The  instances  are  chosen  from  expressions  occur- 
ring in  chapters  xxi. — lii.  The  reader  will  find  fuller  lists  dealing 
with  the  whole  book  in  the  Speaker's   Commentary  and  the 


CHARACTERISTIC  EXPRESSIONS  269 

Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools  afid  Colleges.  The  Hebrew  student 
is  referred  to  the  hst  in  Driver's  Introduction^  upon  which  the 
following  is  partly  based. 

1.  Rising  up  early :  vii.  13,  25  ;  xi.  7 ;  xxv.  3,  4;  xxvi.  5  ;  xxix. 
19 ;  xxxii.  33  ;  xxxv.  14,  15  ;  xliv.  4.  This  phrase,  familiar  to  us 
in  the  narratives  of  Genesis  and  in  the  historical  books,  is  used 
here,  as  in  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  15,  of  God  addressing  His  people 
on  sending  the  prophets. 

2.  Stubbornness  of  heart  (A.V.  imagination  of  heart) :  iii.  17  ; 
vii.  24;  ix.  14;  xi.  8;  xiii.  10;  xvi.  12;  xviii.  12;  xxiii.  17;  also 
found  Deut.  xxix.  19  and  Ps.  Ixxxi.  15. 

3.  The  evil  of  your  doings :  iv.  4 ;  xxi.  12  ;  xxiii.  2,  22  ;  xxv.  5  ; 
xxvi.  3  ;  xliv.  22;  also  Deut.  xxviii.  20;  i  Sam.  xxv.  3  ;  Isa.  i.  16; 
Hos.  ix.  15  ;  Ps.  xxviii.  4;  and  in  slightly  different  form  in  xi.  18 
and  Zech.  i.  4. 

The  fruit  of yotir  doings :  xvii.  10;  xxi.  14;  xxxii.  19;  also  found 
in  Micah  vii.  13. 

Doings,  your  doings,  etc.,  are  also  found  in  Jeremiah  and 
elsewhere. 

4.  The  sword,  the  pestilence,  and  the  famine,  in  various  orders, 
and  either  as  a  phrase  or  each  word  occurring  in  one  of  three 
successive  clauses  :  xiv.  12  ;  xv.  2  ;  xxi.  7,  9  ;  xxiv.  10  ;  xxvii.  8,  13  ; 
xxix.  17,  18;  xxxii.  24,  36;  xxxiv.  17;  xxxviii.  2  ;  xHi.  17,  22; 
xliv.   13. 

The  sword  and  the  famine,  with  similar  variations:  v.  12  ;  xi. 
22  ;  xiv.  13,  15,  16,  18  ;  xvi.  4 ;  xviii.  21  ;  xHi.  16  ;  xliv.  12,  18,  27. 

Cf.  similar  Hsts,  etc.,  "death  .  .  .  sword  .  .  .  captivity"  in 
xliii.  II;  "war  .  .  .  evil  .  .  .  pestilence,"  xxviii.  8. 

5.  Kings  .  .  .  princes  .  .  .  priests  .  .  .  prophets,  in  various 
orders  and  combinations :  ii.  26  ;  iv.  9  ;  viii.  i ;  xiii.  13  ;  xxiv.  8 ; 
xxxii.  32. 

Cf.  Prophet  .  .  .  priest  .  .  .  people,  xxiii.  33,  34.  Prophets 
.  .  .  divines  .  .  .  dreamers  .  .  .  enchanters  .  .  .  sorcerers, 
xxvii.  9. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

SOCIAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  CORRUPTION 
"Very  bad  figs,  .  .  .  too  bad  to  be  eaten." — Jer.  xxiv.  2,  8,  xxix.  17. 

PROPHETS  and  preachers  have  taken  the  IsraeHtes 
for  God's  helots,  as  if  the  Chosen  People  had 
been  made  drunk  with  the  cup  of  the  Lord's  indignation, 
in  order  that  they  might  be  held  up  as  a  warning  to 
His  more  favoured  children  throughout  after  ages. 
They  seem  depicted  as  **  sinners  above  all  men,"  that 
by  this  supreme  warning  the  heirs  of  a  better  covenant 
may  be  kept  in  the  path  of  righteousness.  Their  sin 
is  no  mere  inference  from  the  long  tragedy  of  their 
national  history,  ''  because  they  have  suffered  such 
things";  their  own  prophets  and  their  own  Messiah 
testify  continually  against  them.  Religious  thought 
has  always  singled  out  Jeremiah,  as  the  most  con- 
spicuous and  uncompromising  witness  to  the  sins  of 
his  people.  One  chief  feature  of  his  mission  was  to 
declare  God's  condemnation  of  ancient  Judah.  Jeremiah 
watched  and  shared  the  prolonged  agony  and  over- 
whelming catastrophes  of  the  last  days  of  the  Jewish 
monarchy,  and  ever  and  anon  raised  his  voice  to 
declare  that  his  fellow-countrymen  suffered,  not  as 
martyrs,  but  as  criminals.  He  was  like  the  herald 
who  accompanies  a  condemned  man  on  the  way  to 
execution,  and  proclaims  his  crime  to  the  spectators. 
What  were  these  crimes  ?  How  was  Jerusalem  a 
270 


SOCIAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  CORRUPTION  271 

sink  of  iniquity,  an  Augean  stable,  only  to  be  cleansed 
by  turning  through  it  the  floods  of  Divine  chastisement  ? 
The  annalists  of  Egypt  and  Chaldea  show  no  interest 
in  the  morality  of  Judah;  but  there  is  no  reason  to 
believe  that  they  regarded  Jerusalem  as  more  depraved 
than  Tyre,  or  Babylon,  or  Memphis.  If  a  citizen  of 
one  of  these  capitals  of  the  East  visited  the  city  of 
David  he  might  miss  something  of  accustomed  culture, 
and  might  have  occasion  to  complain  of  the  inferiority 
of  local  police  arrangements,  but  he  v^^ould  be  as  little 
conscious  of  any  extraordinary  wickedness  in  the  city 
as  a  Parisian  would  in  London.  Indeed,  if  an  English 
Christian  familiar  with  the  East  of  the  nineteenth 
century  could  be  transported  to  Jerusalem  under  King 
Zedekiah,  in  all  probability  its  moral  condition  would 
not  affect  him  very  differently  from  that  of  Cabul  or 
Ispahan. 

When  we  seek  to  learn  from  Jeremiah  wherein  the 
guilt  of  Judah  lay,  his  answer  is  neither  clear  nor  full : 
he  does  not  gather  up  her  sins  into  any  complete  and 
detailed  indictment ;  we  are  obliged  to  avail  ourselves 
of  casual  references  scattered  through  his  prophecies. 
For  the  most  part  Jeremiah  speaks  in  general  terms  ; 
a  precise  and  exhaustive  catalogue  of  current  vices 
would  have  seemed  too  familiar  and  commonplace  for 
the  written  record. 

The  corruption  of  Judah  is  summed  up  by  Jeremiah 
in  the  phrase  ''the  evil  of  your  doings,"^  and  her 
punishment  is  described  in  a  corresponding  phrase  as 
*'  the  fruit  of  your  doings/'  or  as  coming  upon  her 
"  because  of  the  evil  of  your  doings."  The  original  of 
*'  doings  "  is  a  peculiar  word  ^  occurring  most  frequently 

^  Characteristic  Expressions  (i),  p.  269.  ^  ??rD. 


272  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

in  Jeremiah,  and  the  phrases  are  very  common  in 
Jeremiah,  and  hardly  occur  at  all  elsewhere.  The 
constant  reiteration  of  this  melancholy  refrain  is  an 
eloquent  symbol  of  Jehovah's  sweeping  condemnation. 
In  the  total  depravity  of  Judah,  no  special  sin,  no  one 
group  of  sins,  stood  out  from  the  rest.  Their  ''  doings  " 
were  evil  altogether. 

The  picture  suggested  by  the  scattered  hints  as  to 
the  character  of  these  evil  doings  is  such  as  might 
be  drawn  of  almost  any  Eastern  state  in  its  darker 
days.  The  arbitrary  hand  of  the  government  is  illus- 
trated by  Jeremiah's  own  experience  of  the  bastinado  ^ 
and  the  dungeon,^  and  by  the  execution  of  Uriah  ben 
Shemaiah.^  The  rights  of  less  important  personages 
were  not  Hkely  to  be  more  scrupulously  respected. 
The  reproach  of  shedding  innocent  blood  is  more  than 
once  made  against  the  people  and  their  rulers;*  and 
the  more  general  charge  of  oppression  occurs  still 
more  frequently.^ 

The  motive  for  both  these  crimes  was  naturally 
covetousness  ;  ^  as  usual,  they  were  specially  directed 
against  the  helpless,  ''  the  poor,"  ^  ''  the  stranger,  the 
fatherless,  and  the  widow " ;  and  the  machinery  of 
oppression  was  ready  to  hand  in  venal  judges  and 
rulers.  Upon  occasion,  however,  recourse  was  had 
to  open  violence — men  could  *'  steal  and  murder,"  as 
well  as  "  swear  falsely  "  ;  ^  they  lived  in  an  atmosphere 
of  falsehood,  they  ''walked  in  a  He."^  Indeed  the 
word    "  lie "   is   one   of    the    keynotes   of    these    pro- 


'  XX.  2,  xxxvii.  15. 

^  vi.  13. 

"^  xxxvii.,  xxxviii. 

'  ii.  34. 

^  xxvi.  20-24. 

«  vii.  5-9. 

*  ii.  34,  xix.  4,  xxii. 

17. 

»  xxiii.  14. 

^  V.  25,  vi.  6,  vii.  5. 

SOCIAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  CORRUPTION  273 


phecies/  The  last  days  of  the  monarchy  offered 
special  temptations  to  such  vices.  Social  wreckers 
reaped  an  unhallowed  harvest  in  these  stormy  times. 
Revolutions  were  frequent,  and  each  in  its  turn  meant 
fresh  plunder  for  unscrupulous  partisans.  Flattery 
and  treachery  could  always  find  a  market  in  the  court 
of  the  suzerain  or  the  camp  of  the  invader.  Naturally, 
amidst  this  general  demoralisation,  the  life  of  the 
family  did  not  remain  untouched:  ''the  land  was  full 
of  adulterers."  ^  Zedekiah  and  Ahab,  the  false  prophets 
at  Babylon,  are  accused  of  having  comm.itted  adultery 
with  their  neighbours'  wives.^  In  these  passages 
"  adultery  "  can  scarcely  be  a  figure  for  idolatry ;  and 
even  if  it  is,  idolatry  always  involved  immoral  ritual. 

In  accordance  with  the  general  teaching  of  the  Old 
Testament,  Jeremiah  traces  the  roots  of  the  people's 
depravity  to  a  certain  moral  stupidity  ;  they  are  "  a 
foolish  people,  without  understanding,"  who,  like  the 
idols  in  Psalm  cxv.  5,  6,  "'  have  eyes  and  see  not  "  and 
"have  ears  and  hear  not."**  In  keeping  with  their 
stupidity  was  an  unconsciousness  of  guilt  which  even 
rose  into  proud  self-righteousness.  They  could  still 
come  with  pious  fervour  to  worship  in  the  temple  of 
Jehovah  and  to  claim  the  protection  of  its  inviolable 
sanctity.  They  could  still  assail  Jeremiah  with  righteous 
indignation  because  he  announced  the  coming  destruc- 
tion of  the  place  where  Jehovah  had  chosen  to  set  His 
name.^     They  said  that  they  had  no  sin,  and  met  the 

1  Characteristic  Expressions  (2),  p.  269. 

^  xxiii.  10,  14. 

^  xxix.  23. 

*  V.  21,  quoted  by  Ezekiel,  xii,  2.  The  verse  is  also  the  founda- 
tion of  the  description  of  Israel  as  "  the  blind  people  that  have  eyes, 
and  the  deaf  that  have  ears,"  in  Isa.  xlii.  18  ff.,  xliii.  8.  Cf.  Giesebrecht 
onjer.  V.21.  *  vii.,  xxvi. 

18 


274  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

prophet's  rebukes  with  protests  of  conscious  innocence  : 
*'  Wherefore  hath  Jehovah  pronounced  all  this  great 
evil  against  us  ?  or  what  is  our  iniquity  ?  or  what  is 
our  sin  that  we  have  committed  against  Jehovah  our 
God?"^ 

When  the  public  conscience  condoned  alike  the  abuse 
of  the  forms  of  law  and  its  direct  violation,  actual  legal 
rights  Vn^ouM  be  strained  to  the  utmost  against  debtors, 
hired  labourers,  and  slaves.  In  their  extremity,  the 
princes  and  people  of  Judah  sought  to  propitiate  the 
anger  of  Jehovah  b}^  emancipating  their  Hebrew  slaves  ; 
when  the  immediate  danger  had  passed  away  for  a 
time,  they  revoked  the  emancipation.^  The  form  of 
their  submission  to  Jehovah  reveals  their  consciousness 
that  their  deepest  sin  lay  in  their  behaviour  to  their 
helpless  dependents.  This  prompt  repudiation  of  a 
most  solemn  covenant  illustrated  afresh  their  callous 
indifference  to  the  well-being  of  their  inferiors. 

The  depravity  of  Judah  was  not  only  total,  it  was 
also  universal.  In  the  older  histories  we  read  how 
Achan's  single  act  of  covetousness  involved  the  whole 
people  in  misfortune,  and  how  the  treachery  of  the 
bloody  house  of  Saul  brought  three  years'  fam.ine  upon 
the  land ;  but  now  the  sins  of  individuals  and  classes 
were  merged  in  the  general  corruption.  Jeremiah 
dwells  with  characteristic  reiteration  of  idea  and  phrase 
upon  this  melancholy  truth.  Again  and  again  he 
enumerates  the  different  classes  of  the  community  : 
'*  kings,  princes,  priests,  prophets,  men  of  Judah  and 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem."  They  had  all  done  evil  and 
provoked  Jehovah  to  anger ;  they  were  all  to  share  the 
same  punishment.^     They  were  all  arch-rebels,  given  to 

'  xvi.  lo.  -  xxxiv. 

^  xxxii.  26-35  ■  cf'  P-  269,  Characteristic  Expressions  (3). 


SOCIAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  CORRUPTION  275 

slander ;  nothing  but  base  metal ;  ^  corrupters,  every 
one  of  them.^  The  universal  extent  of  total  depravity 
is  most  forcibly  expressed  when  Zedekiah  with  his 
court  and  people  are  summarily  described  as  a  basket 
of  **  very  bad  figs,  too  bad  to  be  eaten." 

The  dark  picture  of  Israel's  corruption  is  not  yet 
complete — Israel's  corruption,  for  now  the  prophet  is 
no  longer  exclusively  concerned  with  Judah.  The  sin 
of  these  last  days  is  no  new  thing ;  it  is  as  old  as 
the  IsraeKte  occupation  of  Jerusalem.  ''  This  city  hath 
been  to  Me  a  provocation  of  My  anger  and  of  My  fury 
from  the  day  that  they  built  it  even  unto  this  day  "  ; 
from  the  earliest  days  of  Israel's  national  existence, 
from  the  time  of  Moses  and  the  Exodus,  the  people 
have  been  given  over  to  iniquity.  '*  The  children  of 
Israel  and  the  children  of  Judah  have  done  nothing  but 
evil  before  Me  from  their  youth  up,"^  Thus  we  see  at 
last  that  Jeremiah's  teaching  concerning  the  sin  of  Judah 
can  be  summed  up  in  one  brief  and  comprehensive  pro- 
position. Throughout  their  whole  history  all  classes 
of  the  community  have  been  wholly  given  over  to  every 
kind  of  wickedness. 

This  gloomy  estimate  of  God's  Chosen  People  is 
substantially  confirmed  by  the  prophets  of  the  later 
monarchy,  from  Amos  and  Hosea  onwards.  Hosea 
speaks  of  Israel  in  terms  as  sweeping  as  those  of 
Jeremiah.  ''  Hear  the  word  of  Jehovah,  ye  children  of 
Israel ;  for  Jehovah  hath  a  controversy^  v/ith  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  land,  because  there  is  no  truth,  nor  mercy, 
nor  knowledge  of  God  in  the  land.  Swearing  and 
lying  and  killing  and  stealing  and  committing  adultery. 


'  Literally  "  copper  and  iron."  '  vi.  28. 

^  xxxii.  26-35. 


276  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

they  cast  off  all  restraint,  and  blood  toucheth  blood."  ^ 
As  a  prophet  of  the  Northern  Kingdom,  Hosea  is  mainly 
concerned  with  his  own  country,  but  his  casual  refer- 
ences to  Judah  include  her  in  the  same  condemnation.^ 
Amos  again  condemns  both  Israel  and  Judah  :  Judah, 
''  because  they  have  despised  the  law  of  Jehovah,  and 
have  not  kept  His  commandments,  and  their  lies  caused 
them  to  err,  after  the  which  their  fathers  walked "  ; 
Israel,  "  because  they  sold  the  righteous  for  silver  and 
the  poor  for  a  pair  of  shoes,  and  pant  after  the  dust  of 
the  earth  on  the  head  of  the  poor  and  turn  aside  the 
way  of  the  meek."  ^  The  first  chapter  of  Isaiah  is  in  a 
similar  strain  :  Israel  is  ''  a  sinful  nation,  a  people  laden 
with  iniquity,  a  seed  of  evil-doers  " ;  "  the  whole  head 
is  sick,  the  whole  heart  faint.  From  the  sole  of  the 
foot  even  unto  the  head  there  is  no  soundness  in 
it,  but  wounds  and  bruises  and  putrefying  sores.' 
According  to  Micah,  ''  Zion  is  built  up  with  blood  and 
Jerusalem  with  iniquity.  The  heads  thereof  judge  for 
reward,  and  the  priests  thereof  teach  for  hire,  and  the 
prophets  thereof  divine  for  money."  * 

Jeremiah's  older  and  younger  contemporaries,  Zepha- 
niah  and  Ezekiel,  alike  confirm  his  testimony.  In  the 
spirit  and  even  the  style  afterwards  used  by  Jeremiah, 
Zephaniah  enumerates  the  sins  of  the  nobles  and 
teachers  of  Jerusalem.  "  Her  princes  within  her  are 
roaring  lions  ;  her  judges  are  evening  wolves.  .  .  .  Her 
prophets  are  light  and  treacherous  persons  :  her  priests 

'  Hosea  iv.  I,  2  ;  also  Hosea's  general  picture  of  the  kingdom  of 
Samaria. 

'^  The  A.V.  translation  of  xi.  12  ("Judah  yet  ruleth  with  God,  and 
is  faithful  with  the  saints")  must  be  set  aside.  The  sense  is  obscure 
and  the  text  doubtful. 

^  Amos  ii.  4-8.  ''  Micah  iii.  10,  II. 


SOCIAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  CORRUPTION  277 

have  polluted  the  sanctuary,  they  have  done  violence  to 
the  law."  ^  Ezekiel  xx.  traces  the  defections  of  Israel 
from  the  sojourn  in  Egypt  to  the  Captivity.  Elsewhere 
Ezekiel  says  that  "  the  land  is  full  of  bloody  crimes,  and 
the  city  is  full  of  violence";^  and  in  xxii.  23-31  he 
catalogues  the  sins  of  priests,  princes,  prophets,  and 
people,  and  proclaims  that  Jehovah  "  sought  for  a  man 
among  them  that  should  make  up  the  hedge,  and  stand 
in  the  gap  before  Me  for  the  land,  that  I  should  not 
destroy  it :  but  I  found  none." 

We  have  now  fairly  before  us  the  teaching  of  Jere- 
miah and  the  other  prophets  as  to  the  condition  of 
Judah :  the  passages  quoted  or  referred  to  represent  its 
general  tone  and  attitude  ;  it  remains  to  estimate  its 
significance.  We  should  naturally  suppose  that  such 
sweeping  statements  as  to  the  total  depravity  of  the 
whole  people  throughout  all  their  history  were  not 
intended  to  be  interpreted  as  exact  mathematical 
formulae.  And  the  prophets  themselves  state  or  imply 
qualifications.  Isaiah  insists  upon  the  existence  of  a 
righteous  remnant.  When  Jeremiah  speaks  of  Zedekiah 
and  his  subjects  as  a  basket  of  very  bad  figs,  he  also 
speaks  of  the  Jews  who  had  already  gone  into  captivity 
as  a  basket  of  very  good  figs.  The  mere  fact  of 
going  into  captivity  can  hardly  have  accomplished  an 
immediate  and  wholesale  conversion.  The  ''good  figs  " 
among  the  captives  were  presumably  good  before  they 
went  into  exile.  Jeremiah's  general  statements  that 
"  they  were  all  arch-rebels  "  do  not  therefore  preclude 
the  existence  of  righteous  men  in  the  communit3^ 
Similarly,  when  he  tells  us  that  the  city  and  people  have 
always  been  given  over  to  iniquity,  Jeremiah  is   not 

\  Zeph.  iii.  3,  4.  ^  Ezek.  vii.  23:  cf.  vii,  9,  xxii.  I~I2. 


278  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


ignorant  of  Moses  and  Joshua,  David  and  Soiomon, 
and  the  kings  "  who  did  right  in  the  e3^es  of  Jehovah  "  ; 
nor  does  he  intend  to  contradict  the  famihar  accounts 
of  ancient  history.  On  the  other  hand,  the  universaUty 
which  the  prophets  ascribe  to  the  corruption  of  their 
people  is  no  mere  figure  of  rhetoric,  and  yet  -it  is  by  no 
means  incompatible  with  the  view  that  Jerusalem,  in 
its  worst  days,  was  not  more  conspicuously  Vv^icked 
than  Babylon  or  Tyre  ;  or  even,  allowing  for  the  altered 
circumstances  of  the  times,  than  London  or  Paris.  It 
would  never  have  occurred  to  Jeremiah  to  apply  the 
average  morality  of  Gentile  cities  as  a  standard  by 
which  to  judge  Jerusalem  ;  and  Christian  readers  of  the 
Old  Testament  have  caught  something  of  the  old  pro- 
phetic spirit.  The  very  introduction  into  the  present 
context  of  any  comparison  between  Jerusalem  and 
Babylon  may  seem  to  have  a  certain  flavour  of  irre- 
verence. We  perceive  with  the  prophets  that  the  City 
of  Jehovah  and  the  cities  of  the  Gentiles  must  be  placed 
in  different  categories.  The  popular  modern  explanation 
is  that  heathenism  was  so  utterly  abominable  that 
Jerusalem  at  its  worst  was  still  vastly  superior  to 
Nineveh  or  Tyre.  However  exaggerated  such  views 
may  be,  they  still  contain  an  element  of  truth  ;  but 
Jeremiah's  estimate  of  the  moral  condition  of  Judah  was 
based  on  entirely  different  ideas.  His  standards  were 
not  relative  but  absolute,  not  practical  but  ideal.  His 
principles  were  the  very  antithesis  of  the  tacit  ignoring 
of  difficult  and  unusual  duties,  the  convenient  and 
somewhat  shabby  compromise  represented  by  the  modern 
word  '*  respectable."  Israel  was  to  be  judged  by  its 
relation  to  Jehovah's  purpose  for  His  people.  Jehovah 
had  called  them  out  of  Egypt,  and  delivered  them  from 
a  thousand  dangers.     He  had  raised  up  for  them  judges 


SOCIAL  AND  RELIGIOUS   CORRUPTION  279 

and  kings,  Moses,  David,  and  isaiah.  He  had  spoken 
to  them  by  Torah  and  by  prophecy.  This  pecuHar 
munificence  of  Providence  and  Revelation  was  not 
meant  to  produce  a  people  only  better  by  some  small 
percentage  than  their  heathen  neighbours. 

The  comparison  between  Israel  and  its  neighbours 
would  no  doubt  be  much  more  favourable  under  David 
than  under  Zedekiah,  but  even  then  the  outcome  of 
Mosaic  religion  as  practically  embodied  in  the  national 
life  was  utterly  unworthy  of  the  Divine  ideal ;  to  have 
described  the  Israel  of  David  or  the  Judah  of  Hezekiah 
as  Jehovah's  specially  cherished  possession,  a  kingdom 
of  priests  and  a  holy  nation,^  would  have  seemed  a 
ghastly  irony  even  to  the  sons  of  Zeruiah,  far  more 
to  Nathan,  Gad,  or  Isaiah.  Nor  had  any  class,  as  a 
class,  been  wholly  true  to  Jehovah  at  any  period  of 
the  histor3^  If  for  any  considerable  time  the  numerous 
order  of  professional  prophets  had  had  a  single  eye  to 
the  glory  of  Jehovah,  the  fortunes  of  Israel  would  have 
been  altogether  different,  and  where  prophets  failed, 
priests  and  princes  and  common  people  were  not  likely 
to  succeed. 

Hence,  judged  as  citizens  of  God's  Kingdom  on 
earth,  the  Israelites  were  corrupt  in  every  faculty  of 
their  nature  :  as  masters  and  servants,  as  rulers  and 
subjects,  as  priests,  prophets,  and  worshippers  of 
Jehovali,  they  succumbed  to  selfishness  and  cov/ardice, 
and  perpetrated  the  ordinary  crimes  and  vices  of 
ancient  Eastern  life. 

The  reader  is  perhaps  tempted  to  ask  :  Is  this  all 
that  is  meant  by  the  fierce  and  impassioned  denuncia- 
tions of  Jeremiah  ?     Not  quite  all.     Jeremiah  had  had 

'  Exod.  xix.  6. 


28o  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

the  mortification  of  seeing  the  great  religious  revival 
under  Josiah  spend  itself,  apparently  in  vain,  against 
the  ingrained  corruption  of  the  people.  The  reaction, 
as  under  Manasseh,  had  accentuated  the  worst  features 
of  the  national  life.  At  the  same  time  the  constant 
distress  and  dismay  caused  by  disastrous  invasions 
tended  to  general  licence  and  anarchy.  A  long  period 
of  decadence  reached  its  nadir. 

But  these  are  mere  matters  of  degree  and  detail ; 
the  main  thing  for  Jeremiah  was  not  that  Judah  had 
become  worse,  but  that  it  had  failed  to  become  better. 
One  great  period  of  Israel's  probation  was  finally 
closed.  The  kingdom,  had  served  its  purpose  in  the 
Divine  Providence ;  but  it  v/as  impossible  to  hope  any 
longer  that  the  Jewish  monarchy  was  to  prove  the 
earthly  embodiment  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  There 
was  no  prospect  of  Judah  attaining  a  social  order 
appreciably  better  than  that  of  the  surrounding  nations. 
Jehovah  and  His  Revelation  would  be  disgraced  by 
any  further  association  with  the  Jewish  state. 

Certain  schools  of  socialists  bring  a  similar  charge 
against  the  modern  social  order;  that  it  is  not  a 
Kingdom  of  God  upon  earth  is  sufficiently  obvious; 
and  they  assert  that  our  social  system  has  become 
stereotyped  on  lines  that  exclude  and  resist  progress 
towards  any  higher  ideal.  Now  it  is  certainly  true 
that  every  great  civilisation  hitherto  has  grown  old 
and  obsolete ;  if  Christian  society  is  to  establish  its 
right  to  abide  permanently,  it  must  show  itself  some- 
thing more  than  an  improved  edition  of  the  Athens  of 
Pericles  or  the  Empire  of  the  Antonines. 

All  will  agree  that  Christendom  falls  sadly  short  of 
its  ideal,  and  therefore  we  may  seek  to  gather  in- 
struction from  Jeremiah's  judgment  on  the  shortcomings 


SOCIAL  AND  RELIGIOUS   CORRUPTION  281 

of  Judah.  Jeremiah  specially  emphasises  the  uni- 
versality of  corruption  in  individual  character,  in  all 
classes  of  society  and  throughout  the  whole  duration 
of  history.  Similarly  we  have  to  recognise  that  pre- 
valent social  and  moral  evils  lower  the  general  tone 
of  individual  character.  Moral  faculties  are  not  set 
apart  in  watertight  compartments,  "  Whosoever  shall 
keep  the  whole  law,  and  yet  offend  in  one  point,  is 
guilty  of  all,"  is  no  mere  forensic  principle.  The  one 
offence  impairs  the  earnestness  and  sincerity  with 
which  a  man  keeps  the  rest  of  the  law,  even  though 
there  may  be  no  obvious  lapse.  There  are  moral 
surrenders  made  to  the  practical  exigencies  of  com- 
mercial, social,  political,  and  ecclesiastical  life.  Probably 
we  should  be  startled  and  dismayed  if  we  understood 
the  consequent  sacrifice  of  individual  character. 

We  might  also  learn  from  the  prophet  that  the 
responsibility  for  our  social  evils  rests  with  all  classes. 
Time  was  when  the  lower  classes  were  plentifully 
lectured  as  the  chief  authors  of  public  troubles ;  now 
it  is  the  turn  of  the  capitalist,  the  parson,  and  the 
landlord.  The  former  policy  had  no  very  marked 
success,  possibly  the  new  method  may  not  fare  better. 

Wealth  and  influence  imply  opportunity  and  responsi- 
bihty  which  do  not  belong  to  the  poor  and  feeble ;  but 
power  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  privileged  classes ; 
and  the  energy,  ability,  and  self-denial  embodied  in  the 
great  Trades  Unions  have  sometimes  shown  themselves 
as  cruel  and  selfish  towards  the  weak  and  destitute  as 
any  association  of  capitalists.  A  necessary  preliminary 
to  social  amendment  is  a  General  Confession  by  each 
class  of  its  own  sins. 

Finally,  the  Divine  Spirit  had  taught  Jeremiah  that 
Israel  had  always  been  sadly  imperfect.     He  did  not 


282  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


deny  Divine  Providence  and  human  hope  by  teaching 
that  the  Golden  Age  lay  in  the  past,  that  the  Kingdom 
of  God  had  been  realised  and  allowed  to  perish.  He 
was  under  no  fooHsh  delusion  as  to  "the  good  old 
times " ;  in  his  most  despondent  moods  he  was  not 
given  over  to  wistful  reminiscence.  His  example  may 
help  us  not  to  become  discouraged  through  exaggerated 
ideas  about  the  attainments  of  past  generations. 

In  considering  modern  life  it  may  seem  that  we  pass 
to  an  altogether  different  quality  of  evil  to  that  denounced 
by  Jeremiah,  that  we  have  lost  sight  of  anything  that 
could  justify  his  fierce  indignation,  and  thus  that  we 
fail  in  appreciating  his  character  and  message.  Any 
such  illusion  may  be  corrected  by  a  glance  at  the 
statistics  of  congested  town  districts,  sweated  industries, 
and  prostitution.  A  social  reformer,  living  in  contact 
w4th  these  evils,  may  be  apt  to  think  Jeremiah's 
denunciations  specially  adapted  to  the  society  which 
tolerates  them  with  almost  unruffled  complacency. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

PERSISTENT  APOSTASY 

"They  have  forsaken  the  covenant  of  Jehovah  their  God,  and 
worshipped  other  gods,  and  served  them." — Jer.  xxii.  9. 

"Every  one  that  walketh  in  the  stubbornness  of  his  heart." — Jer. 
xxiii.  17. 

THE  previous  chapter  has  been  intentionally  con- 
fined, as  far  as  possible,  to  Jeremiah's  teaching 
upon  the  moral  condition  of  Judah.  Religion,  in  the 
narrower  sense,  was  kept  in  the  background,  and 
mainly  referred  to  as  a  social  and  political  influence. 
In  the  same  vvay  the  priests  and  prophets  were 
mentioned  chiefly  as  classes  of  notables — estates  of 
the  realm.  This  method  corresponds  with  a  stage 
in  the  process  of  Revelation ;  it  is  that  of  the  older 
prophets.  Hosea,  as  a  native  of  the  Northern  King- 
dom, may  have  had  a  fuller  experience  and  clearer 
understanding  of  religious  corruption  than  his  con- 
temporaries in  Judah.  But,  in  spite  of  the  stress  that 
he  la3's  upon  idolatry  and  the  various  corruptions  of 
worship,  many  sections  of  his  book  simply  deal  with 
social  evils.  We  are  not  explicitly  told  why  the 
prophet  was  ''  a  fool "  and  "  a  snare  of  a  fowler,"  but 
the  immediate  context  refers  to  the  abominable  im- 
morality of  Gibeah.^     The   priests  are  not  reproached 


Hosea  ix.  7-9  :  ct.  Judges  xix.  22. 
283 


284  THE   BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

with  incorrect  ritual,  but  with  conspiracy  to  murder.-^ 
In  Amos,  the  land  is  not  so  much  punished  on  account 
of  corrupt  worship,  as  the  sanctuaries  are  destroyed 
because  the  people  are  given  over  to  murder,  oppres- 
sion, and  every  form  of  vice.  In  Isaiah  again  the 
main  stress  is  constantly  upon  international  politics 
and  public  and  private  morality.^  For  instance,  none 
of  the  woes  in  v.  8-24  are  directed  against  idolatry 
or  corrupt  worship,  and  in  xxviii.  7  the  charge  brought 
against  Ephraim  does  not  refer  to  ecclesiastical  matters  ; 
they  have  erred  through  strong  drink. 

In  Jeremiah's  treatment  of  the  ruin  of  Judah,  he 
insists,  as  Hosea  had  done  as  regards  Israel,  on  the 
fatal  consequences  of  apostasy  from  Jehovah  to  other 
gods.  This  very  phrase  ''other  gods"  is  one  of 
Jeremiah's  favourite  expressions,  and  in  the  writings 
of  the  other  prophets  only  occurs  in  Hosea  iii.  i.  On 
the  other  hand,  references  to  idols  are  extremely  rare 
in  Jeremiah.  These  facts  suggest  a  special  difficulty 
in  discussing  the  apostasy  of  Judah.  The  Jews  often 
combined  the  worship  of  other  gods  with  that  of 
Jehovah.  According  to  the  analogy  of  other  nations, 
it  was  quite  possible  to  worship  Baal  and  x^shtaroth, 
and  the  whole  heathen  Pantheon,  without  intending 
to  show  any  special  disrespect  to  the  national  Deity. 
Even  devout  worshippers,  who  confined  their  adora- 
tions to  the  one  true  God,  sometimes  thought  they  did 
honour  to  Him  by  introducing  into  His  services  the 
images  and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  the  splendid  cults 
of  the  great  heathen  empires.  It  is  not  always  easy 
to  determine  whether  statements  about  idolatry  imply 


•  Hosea  vi.  9. 

^  Isaiah  xl. — Ixvi.  is  excluded  from  this  statement. 


xxii.9,xxiii.  17.]      PERSISTENT  APOSTASY  285 


formal  apostasy  from  Jehovah,  or  merely  a  debased 
worship.  When  the  early  Mohammedans  spoke  with 
lofty  contempt  of  image-worshippers,  they  were  re- 
ferring to  the  Eastern  Christians ;  the  iconoclast 
heretics  denounced  the  idolatry  of  the  Orthodox 
Church,  and  the  Covenanters  used  similar  terms  as  to 
prelacy.  Ignorant  modern  Jews  are  sometimes  taught 
that  Christians  worship  idols. 

Hence  when  we  read  of  the  Jews,  '*  They  set  their 
abominations  in  the  house  which  is  called  by  My  name, 
to  defile  it,"  we  are  not  to  understand  that  the  Temple 
was  transferred  from  Jehovah  to  some  other  deities, 
but  that  the  corrupt  practices  and  symbols  of  heathen 
worship  were  combined  with  the  Mosaic  ritual.  Even 
the  high  places  of  Baal,  in  the  Valley  of  Ben-Hinnom, 
where  children  were  passed  through  the  fire  unto 
Moloch,  professed  to  offer  an  opportunity  of  supreme 
devotion  to  the  God  of  Israel.  Baal  and  Melech,  Lord 
and  King,  had  in  ancient  times  been  amongst  His  titles  ; 
and  when  they  became  associated  with  the  more 
heathenish  modes  of  worship,  their  misguided  devotees 
still  claimed  that  they  were  doing  homage  to  the  national 
Deity.  The  inhuman  sacrifices  to  Moloch  were  offered 
in  obedience  to  sacred  tradition  and  Divine  oracles, 
which  were  supposed  to  emanate  from  Jehovah.  In 
three  different  places,  Jeremiah  explicitly  and  emphati- 
cally denies  that  Jehovah  had  required  or  sanctioned 
these  sacrifices  :  ''  I  commanded  them  not,  neither  came 
it  into  My  mind,  that  they  should  do  this  abomination, 
to  cause  Judah  to  sin."^  The  Pentateuch  preserves 
an   ancient  ordinance  which   the    Moloch-worshippers 

'  xxxii.  34,  35,  repeating  vii.  30,  31,  with  slight  variations.  A 
similar  statement  occurs  in  xix.  4,  5.  Cf.  2  Kings  xvi.  3,  xxi.  6,  xxiii. 
10;   also  Giesebrecht  and  Orelli  in  loco. 


286  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

probably  interpreted  in  support  of  their  unholy  rites, 
and  Jeremiah's  protests  are  partly  directed  against  the 
misinterpretation  of  the  command  "  the  first-born  of 
thy  sons  shalt  thou  give  Me."  The  immediate  context 
also  commanded  that  the  firstlings  of  sheep  and  oxen 
should  be  given  to  Jehovah.  The  beasts  were  killed  ; 
must  it  not  be  intended  that  the  children  should  be 
killed  too  ?  ^  A  similar  blind  literalism  has  been  respon- 
sible for  many  of  the  follies  and  crimes  perpetrated  in 
the  name  of  Christ.  The  Church  is  apt  to  justify  its 
most  flagrant  enormities  by  appealing  to  a  misused  and 
misinterpreted  Old  Testament.  ''  Thou  shalt  not  suffer 
a  witch  to  live  "  and  ''  Cursed  be  Canaan  "  have  been 
proof-texts  for  witch-hunting  and  negro-slavery  ;  and 
the  Book  of  Joshua  has  been  regarded  as  a  Divine 
charter,  authorising  the  unrestrained  indulgence  of  the 
passion  for  revenge  and  blood. 

When  it  was  thus  necessary  to  put  on  record 
reiterated  denials  that  inhuman  rites  of  Baal  and 
Moloch  were  a  divinely  sanctioned  adoration  of  Jehovah, 
we  can  understand  that  the  Baal-worship  constantly 
referred  to  by  Hosea,  Jeremiah,  and  Zephaniah  ^  v/as 
not  generally  understood  to  be  apostasy.  The  worship 
of  ''  other  gods,"  "  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  all  the  host 
of  heaven,"  ^  and  of  the  "  Queen  of  Heaven,"  would 
be  more  difficult  to  explain  as  mere  syncretism,  but 
the  assimilation  of  Jewish  worship  to  heathen  ritual 
and  the  confusion  of  the  Divine  Name  with  the  titles 
of  heathen  deities  masked  the  transition  from  the 
religion  of  Moses  and  Isaiah  to  utter  apostasy. 

^  Exod.    xxii.    29    (JE.).     Exod.    xxxiv.    20    is   probably    a   later 
interpretation  intended  to  guard  against  misunderstandings. 
'^  Baal  is  not  mentioned  in  the  other  prophetical  books. 
^  vii.  2. 


xxii.9,xxiu.  17.]      PERSISTENT  APOSTASY  287 

Such  assimilation  and  confusion  perplexed  and 
baffled  the  prophets.^  Social  and  moral  wrongdoing 
were  easily  exposed  and  denounced  ;  and  the  e\als  thus 
brought  to  light  were  obvious  symptoms  of  serious 
spiritual  disease.  The  Divine  Spirit  taught  the  prophets 
that  sin  was  often  most  rampant  in  those  who  professed 
the  greatest  devotion  to  Jehovah  and  were  most 
punctual  and  munificent  in  the  discharge  of  external 
religious  duties.  When  the  prophecy  in  Isaiah  i.  was 
uttered  it  almost  seemed  as  if  the  whole  system  of 
Mosaic  ritual  would  have  to  be  sacrificed,  in  order  to 
preserve  the  religion  of  Jehovah.  But  the  further 
development  of  the  disease  suggested  a  less  heroic 
remedy.  The  passion  for  external  rites  did  not  confine 
itself  to  the  traditional  forms  of  ancient  Israelite 
worship.  The  practices  of  unspiritual  and  immoral 
ritualism  were  associated  specially  with  the  names  of 
Baal  and  Moloch  and  with  the  adoration  of  the  host 
of  heaven  ;  and  the  departure  from  the  true  worship 
became  obvious  when  the  deities  of  foreign  nations 
were  openly  worshipped. 

Jeremiah  clearly  and  constantly  insisted  on  the 
distinction  between  the  true  and  the  corrupt  worship. 
The  worship  paid  to  Baal  and  Moloch  was  altogether 
unacceptable  to  Jehovah.  These  and  other  objects  of 
adoration  were  not  to  be  regarded  as  forms,  titles,  t)r 
manifestations  of  the  one  God,  but  were  *'  other  gods," 
distinct  and  opposed  in  nature  and  attributes ;  in 
serving  them  the  Jews  were  forsaking  Him.  So  far 
from  recognising  such  rites  as  homage  paid  to  Jehovah, 

'  Here  and  elsewhere,  "  prophet,"  unless  specially  qualified  by  the 
context,  is  used  of  the  true  prophet,  the  messenger  of  Divine  Revela- 
tion, and  does  not  include  the  mere  professional  prophets.  Cf, 
Chap.  VIII, 


288  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Jeremiah  follows  Hosea  in  calling  them  "  backsliding,"  ^ 
a  falling  away  from  true  loyalty.  When  they  ad- 
dressed themselves  to  their  idols,  even  if  they  conse- 
crated them  in  the  Temple  and  to  the  glory  of  the  Most 
High,  they  were  not  really  looking  to  Him  in  reverent 
supplication,  but  with  impious  profanity  were  turning 
their  backs  upon  Him  :  ^'  They  have  turned  unto  Me 
the  back,  and  not  the  face."  ^  These  proceedings  were 
a  violation  of  the  covenant  between  Jehovah  and 
Israel.^ 

The  same  anxiety  to  discriminate  the  true  religion 
from  spurious  imitations  and  adulterations  underlies 
the  stress  which  Jeremiah  lays  upon  the  Divine  Name. 
His  favourite  formula,  ''  Jehovah  Sabaoth  is  His  name,"  * 
may  be  borrowed  from  Amos,  or  may  be  an  ancient 
liturgical  sentence ;  in  any  case,  its  use  would  be  a 
convenient  protest  against  the  doctrine  that  Jehovah 
could  be  worshipped  under  the  names  of  and  after  the 
manner  of  Baal  and  Moloch.  jjWhen  Jehovah  speaks  of 
the  people  forgetting  ''  My  name,"  He  does  not  mean 
either  that  the  people  would  forget  all  about  Him,  or 
would  cease  to  use  the  name  Jehovah;  but  that  they 
would  forget  the  character  and  attributes,  the  purposes 
and  ordinances,  which  were  properly  expressed  by  His 
Name.  The  prophets  who  ''  prophesy  lies  in  My 
name"  ''cause  My  people  to  forget  My  name."^  Baal 
and  Moloch  had  sunk  into  fit  titles  for  a  god  who 
could  be  worshipped  with  cruel,  obscene,  and  idolatrous 
rites,  but  the  religion  of  Revelation  had  been  for  ever 

'  ii.  19,  etc. 

'^  xxxii.  33,  etc. 

^  xxii.  9 :  cf.  xi.  lo,  xxxi.  32,  and  Hosea  vi.  7,  viii.  i. 

*  X.  16 :  cf.  Amos  iv.  13. 

*  xxiii.  25-27 :  cf.  Giesebrecht,  in  loco. 


xxii.9,xxiii.  i;.]      PERSISTENT  APOSTASY  2S9 

associated  with  the  one  sacred  Name,  when  *'  Elohim 
said  unto  Moses,  Thou  shalt  say  unto  the  IsraeHtes : 
Jehovah,  the  God  of  your  fathers,  the  God  of  Abraham, 
the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob,  hath  sent  me 
unto  you  :  this  is  My  name  for  ever,  and  this  is  My 
memorial  unto  all  generations."  All  religious  life  and 
practice  inconsistent  with  this  Revelation  given  through 
Moses  and  the  prophets — all  such  worship,  even  if 
offered  to  beings  which,  as  Jehovah,  sat  in  the  Temple 
of  Jehovah,  professing  to  be  Jehovah — were  neverthe- 
less service  and  obedience  paid  to  other  and  false  gods. 
Jeremiah's  mission  was  to  hammer  these  truths  into 
dull  and  unwilling  mindsj 

His  work  seems  to  have  been  successful.  Ezekiel, 
who  is  in  a  measure  his  disciple,^  drops  the  phrase 
**  other  gods,"  and  mentions  'Mdols "  very  frequently.^ 
Argument  and  explanation  were  no  longer  necessary 
to  show  that  idolatry  was  sin  against  Jehovah;  the 
word  ''  idol "  could  be  freely  used  and  universally 
understood  as  indicating  what  was  wholly  alien  to  the 
religion  of  Israel.^  Jeremiah  was  too  anxious  to  convince 
the  Jews  that  all  syncretism  was  apostasy  to  distinguish 
it  carefully  from  the  avowed  neglect  of  Jehovah  for 
other  gods.  It  is  not  even  clear  that  such  neglect 
existed  in  his  day.  In  chap.  xliv.  we  have  one  detailed 
account  of  false  worship  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven.  It 
was  offered  by  the  Jewish  refugees  in  Egypt ;  shortly 
before,  these  refugees  had  unanimously  entreated 
Jeremiah  to  pray  for  them  to  Jehovah,  and  had  promised 
to  obey  His  commands.     The  punishment  of  their  false 

'  Cheyne,  Jeremiah  :  Life  and  Times,  p.  150. 
'  Jeremiah  hardly  mentions  idols. 

'  Cf.  on  this  whole   subject,   Cheyne,  Jeremiah:  Life  and  Times, 
p.  319- 

19 


290  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

worship  was  that  they  should  no  longer  be  permitted 
to  name  the  Holy  Name.  Clearly,  therefore,  they  had 
supposed  that  offering  incense  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven 
was  not  inconsistent  with  worshipping  Jehovah.  We 
need  not  dwell  on  a  distinction  which  is  largely  ignored 
by  Jeremiah ;  the  apostasy  of  Judah  was  real  and 
widespread,  it  matters  little  how  far  the  delinquents 
ventured  to  throw  off  the  cloak  of  orthodox  profession.^ 
The  most  lapsed  masses  in  a  Christian  country  do  not 
utterly  break  their  connection  with  the  Church ;  they 
consider  themselves  legitimate  recipients  of  its  alms, 
and  dimly  contemplate  as  a  vague  and  distant  possi- 
bility the  reformation  of  their  Hfe  and  character  through 
Christianity.  So  the  blindest  worshippers  of  stocks 
and  stones  claimed  a  vested  interest  in  the  national 
Deity,  and  in  the  time  of  their  trouble  they  turned  to 
Jehovah  with  the  appeal  ''Arise  and  save  us."  ^ 

Jeremiah  also  dwells  on  the  deliberate  and  persistent 
character  of  the  apostasy  of  Judah.  Nations  have  often 
experienced  a  sort  of  satanic  revival  when  the  fountains 
of  the  nether  deep  seemed  broken  up,  and  flood-tides 
of  evil  influence  swept  all  before  them.  Such,  in  a 
measure,  was  the  reaction  from  the  Puritan  Common- 
wealth, when  so  much  of  English  society  lapsed  into 
reckless  dissipation.  Such  too  was  the  carnival  of 
wickedness  into  which  the  First  French  Republic  was 
plunged  in  the  Reign  of  Terror.  But  these  periods 
were  transient,  and  the  domination  of  lust  and  cruelty 
soon  broke  dov/n  before  the  reassertion  of  an  outraged 
national  conscience.  But  we  noticed,  in  the  previous 
chapter,  that  Israel  and  Judah  alike  steadily  failed  to 

1  The  strongest  expressions  are  in  chap,  ii.,  for  which  see  previous 
volume  on  Jeremiah. 
^  ii.  27. 


xxii.9,xxiii.  17.]      PERSISTENT  APOSTASY  291 

attain  the  high  social  ideal  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation. 
Naturally,  this  continuous  failure  is  associated  with 
persistent  apostasy  from  the  religious  teaching  of  the 
Mosaic  and  prophetic  Revelation.  Exodus,  Deutero- 
nomy and  the  Chronicler  agree  with  Jeremiah  that 
the  Israelites  were  a  stiff-necked  people  ;  ^  and,  in  the 
Chronicler's  time  at  any  rate,  Israel  had  played  a  part 
in  the  world  long  enough  for  its  character  to  be 
accurately  ascertained;  and  subsequent  history  has 
shown  that,  for  good  or  for  evil,  the  Jews  have  never 
lacked  tenacity.  Syncretism,  the  tendency  to  adulterate 
true  teaching  and  worship  with  elements  from  heathen 
sources,  had  been  all  along  a  morbid  affection  of 
Israelite  religion.  The  Pentateuch  and  the  historical 
books  are  full  of  rebukes  of  the  Israelite  passion  for 
idolatry,  which  must  for  the  most  part  be  understood 
as  introduced  into  or  associated  with  the  worship  of 
Jehovah.  Jeremiah  constantly  refers  to  ''  the  stubborn- 
ness of  their  evil  heart  "  :  ^  *^  they  .  .  .  have  walked 
after  the  stubbornness  of  their  own  heart  and  after  the 
Baalim."  This  stubbornness  was  shown  in  their  resist- 
ance to  all  the  means  which  Jehovah  employed  to  wean 
them  from  their  sin.  Again  and  again,  in  our  book, 
Jehovah  speaks  of  Himself  as  ''rising  up  early "^  to 
speak  to  the  Jews,  to  teach  them,  to  send  prophets 
to  them,  to  solemnly  adjure  them  to  submit  themselves 
to  Him ;  but  they  would  not  hearken  either  to  Jehovah 
or  to  His  prophets,  they  would  not  accept  His  teaching 
or  obey  His  commands,  they  made  themselves  stiff- 
necked  and  would  not  bow  to  His  will.  He  had  sub- 
jected them  to  the  discipline  of  afQiction,  instruction 

'  xvii.  23 :  cf.  Exod.  xxxii.  9,  etc.  (JE.) ;  Deut.  ix.  6;  2  Chron.  xxx.  8. 
^  Characteristic  Expressions,  p.  269. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  269. 


292  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


had  become  correction ;  Jehovah  had  wounded  them 
^'  with  the  wound  of  an  enemy,  with  the  chastisement 
of  a  cruel  one  " ;  but  as  they  had  been  deaf  to  exhorta- 
tion, so  they  were  proof  against  chastisement — "  they 
refused  to  receive  correction."  Only  the  ruin  of  the 
state  and  the  captivity  of  the  people  could  purge  out 
this  evil  leaven. 

Apostasy  from  the  Mosaic  and  prophetic  religion 
was  naturally  accompanied  by  social  corruption.  It 
has  recently  been  maintained  that  the  universal  instinct 
which  inclines  man  to  be  religious  is  not  necessarily 
moral,  and  that  it  is  the  distinguishing  note  of  the  true 
faith,  or  of  religion  proper,  that  it  enlists  this  somewhat 
neutral  instinct  in  the  cause  of  a  pure  morality.  The 
Phoenician  and  Syrian  cults,  with  which  Israel  was 
most  closely  in  contact,  sufficiently  illustrated  the 
combination  of  fanatical  religious  feeling  with  gross 
impurity.  On  the  other  hand,  the  teaching  of  Revela- 
tion to  Israel  consistently  inculcated  a  high  moraUty 
and  an  unselfish  benevolence.  The  prophets  vehemently 
affirmed  the  worthlessness  of  religious  observances  by 
men  who  oppressed  the  poor  and  helpless.  Apostasy 
from  Jehovah  to  Baal  and  Moloch  involved  the  same 
moral  lapse  as  a  change  from  loyal  service  of  Christ 
to  a  pietistic  antinomianism.  Widespread  apostasy 
meant  general  social  corruption.  The  most  insidious 
form  of  apostasy  was  that  specially  denounced  by 
Jeremiah,  in  which  the  authority  of  Jehovah  was  more 
or  less  explicitly  claimed  for  practices  and  principles 
which  defied  His  law.  The  Reformer  loves  a  clear 
issue,  and  it  was  more  difficult  to  come  to  close  quarters 
with  the  enemy  when  both  sides  professed  to  be 
fighting  in  the  King's  name.  Moreover  the  syncretism 
which  still  recognised  Jehovah  was  able  without  any 


xxii.9,  xxin.  17.]      PERSISTENT  APOSTASY  293 

violent  revolution  to  control  the  established  institutions 
and  orders  of  the  state — palace  and  temple,  king  and 
princes,  priests  and  prophets.  For  a  moment  the 
Reformation  of  Josiah,  and  the  covenant  entered  into 
by  king  and  people  to  observe  the  law  as  laid  down 
in  the  newly  discovered  Book  of  Deuteronomy,  seemed 
to  have  raised  Judah  from  its  low  estate.  But  the 
defeat  and  death  of  Josiah  and  the  deposition  of 
Jehoahaz  followed  to  discredit  Jeremiah  and  his  friends. 
In  the  consequent  reaction  it  seemed  as  if  the  religion 
of  Jehovah  and  the  life  of  His  people  had  become 
hopelessly   corrupt. 

We  are  too  much  accustomed  to  think  of  the  idolatry 
of  Israel  as  something  openly  and  avowedly  distinct 
from  and  opposed  to  the  worship  of  Jehovah.  Modern 
Christians  often  suppose  that  the  true  worshipper  and 
the  ancient  idolater  were  as  contrasted  as  a  pious 
Englishman  and  a  devotee  of  one  of  the  hideous  images 
seen  on  missionary  platforms  ;  or,  at  any  rate,  that 
they  were  as  easily  distinguishable  as  a  native  Indian 
evangelist  from  his  unconverted  fellow-countrymen. 

This  mistake  deprives  us  of  the  most  instructive 
lessons  to  be  derived  from  the  record.  The  sin  which 
Jeremiah  denounced  is  by  no  means  outside  Christian 
experience  ;  it  is  much  nearer  to  us  than  conversion  to 
Buddhism — it  is  possible  to  the  Church  in  every  stage 
of  its  history.  The  missionary  finds  that  the  lives  of 
his  converts  continually  threaten  to  revert  to  a  nominal 
profession  which  cloaks  the  immorality  and  superstition 
of  their  old  heathenism.  The  Church  of  the  Roman 
Empire  gave  the  sanction  of  Christ's  name  and  authority 
to  many  of  the  most  unchristian  features  of  Judaism 
and  Paganism ;  once  more  the  rites  of  strange  gods 
were  associated  with  the  worship  of  Jehovah,  and  a 


294  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

new  Queen  of  Heaven  was  honoured  with  unUmited 
incense.  The  Reformed  Churches  in  their  turn,  after 
the  first  ''  kindness  of  their  youth,"  the  first  '^  love  of 
their  espousals,"  have  often  fallen  into  the  very  abuses 
against  which  their  great  leaders  protested  ;  they  have 
given  way  to  the  ritualistic  spirit,  have  put  the  Church 
in  the  place  of  Christ,  and  have  claimed  for  human 
formulae  the  authority  that  can  only  belong  to  the 
inspired  Word  of  God.  They  have  immolated  their 
victims  to  the  Baals  and  Molochs  of  creeds  and  con- 
fessions, and  thought  that  they  were  doing  honour 
to  Jehovah  thereby. 

Moreover  we  have  still  to  contend  like  Jeremiah  with 
the  continual  struggle  of  corrupt  human  nature  to 
indulge  in  the  luxury  of  religious  sentiment  and  emotion 
without  submitting  to  the  moral  demands  of  Christ. 
The  Church  suffers  far  less  by  losing  the  allegiance  of 
the  lapsed  masses  than  it  does  by  those  who  associate 
with  the  service  of  Christ  those  malignant  and  selfish 
vices  which  are  often  canonised  as  Respectability  and 
Convention, 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

RUIN 
xxii.   1-9,  xxvi.  14. 

"  The  sword,  the  pestilence,  and  the  famine." — Jer.  xxi.  9  and 
passiw. ' 

"Terror  on  every  side." — Jer.  vi.  25,  xx.  lo,  xlvi.  5,  xlix.  29; 
also  as  proper  name,  MAGOR-MISSABIB,  xx.  3. 

WE  have  seen^  in  the  two  previous  chapters,  that 
the  moral  and  reHgious  state  of  Judah  not  only 
excluded  any  hope  of  further  progress  towards  the 
realisation  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  but  also  threatened 
to  involve  Revelation  itself  in  the  corruption  of  His 
people.  The  Spirit  that  opened  Jeremiah's  eyes  to 
the  fatal  degradation  of  his  country  showed  him  that 
ruin  must  follow  as  its  swift  result.  He  was  elect  from 
the  first  to  be  a  herald  of  doom,  to  be  set  '^  over  the 
nations  and  over  the  kingdoms,  to  pluck  up  and  to 
break  down,  and  to  destroy  and  to  overthrow,"^  In 
his  earliest  vision  he  saw  the  thrones  of  the  northern 
conquerors  set  over  against  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  and 
the  cities  of  Judah.^ 

But  Jeremiah  was  called  in  the  full  vigour  of  early  man- 
hood ;  *  he  combined  with  the  uncompromising  severity 

^  Characteristic  Expressions,  p.  269. 

2  i.  10.  ^  i.  15. 

*  i.  7.  The  word  for  "child"  (na'ar)  is  an  elastic  term,  equalling 
"boy"  or  "young  man,"  with  all  the  range  of  meaning  possible  in 
English  to  the  latter  phrase. 

295 


296  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

of  3'^outh  its  ardent  affection  and  irrepressible  hope. 
The  most  unquahfied  threats  of  Divine  wrath  always 
carried  the  implied  condition  that  repentance  might 
avert  the  coming  judgment;^  and  Jeremiah  recurred 
again  and  again  to  the  possibility  that,  even  in  these 
last  days,  amendment  might  win  pardon.  Like  Moses 
at  Sinai  and  Samuel  at  Ebenezer,  he  poured  out  his 
whole  soul  in  intercession  for  Judah,  only  to  receive  the 
answer,  ^'  Though  Moses  and  Samuel  stood  before  Me, 
yet  My  mind  could  not  be  toward  this  people  :  cast  them 
out  of  My  sight  and  let  them  go  forth."  ^  The  record 
of  these  early  hopes  and  prayers  is  chiefly  found  in 
chapters  i. — xx.,  and  is  dealt  with  in  the  previous  volume 
on  Jeremiah.  The  prophecies  in  xiv.  i — xvii.  i8  seem 
to  recognise  the  destiny  of  Judah  as  finally  decided,  and 
to  belong  to  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim,^ 
and  there  is  little  in  the  later  chapters  of  an  earlier  date. 
In  xxii.  irS  the  king  of  Judah  is  promised  that  if  he  and 
his  ministers  and  officers  will  refrain  from  oppression, 
faithfully  administer  justice,  and  protect  the  helpless, 
kings  of  the  elect  dynasty  shall  still  pass  with  magni- 
ficent retinues  in  chariots  and  on  horses  through  the 
palace  gates  to  sit  upon  the  throne  of  David.  Possibly 
this  section  belongs  to  the  earlier  part  of  Jeremiah's 
career.  But  there  were  pauses  and  recoils  in  the 
advancing  tide  of  ruin,  alternations  of  hope  and  despair ; 
and  these  varying  experiences  were  reflected  in  the 
changing  moods  of  the  court,  the  people,  and  the  prophet 
himself  We  may  well  believe  that  Jeremiah  hastened 
to  greet  any  apparent  zeal  for  reformation  with  a 
renewed   declaration   that   sincere   and   ;  adical  amend- 


1  Cf.  the  Book  of  Jonah 

'  Driver,  Introduction,  p.  242. 


xxii,  1-9,  xxvi.  14-]  RUIN  297 

ment  would  be  accepted  by  Jehovah.  The  proffer  of 
mercy  did  not  avert  the  ruin  of  the  state,  but  it  com- 
pelled the  people  to  recognise  that  Jehovah  was  neither 
harsh  nor  vindictive.  His  sentence  was  only  irrevocable 
because  the  obduracy  of  Israel  left  no  other  way  open 
for  the  progress  of  Revelation,  except  that  which  led 
through  fire  and  blood.  The  Holy  Spirit  has  taught 
mankind  in  many  ways  that  when  any  government  or 
church,  any  school  of  thought  or  doctrine,  ossifies  so 
as  to  limit  the  expansion  of  the  soul,  that  society  or 
system  must  be  shattered  by  the  forces  it  seeks  to 
restrain.  The  decadence  of  Spain  and  the  distractions 
of  France  sufficiently  illustrate  the  fruits  of  persistent 
refusal  to  abide  in  the  liberty  of  the  Spirit. 

But,  until  the  catastrophe  is  clearly  inevitable,  the 
Christian,  both  as  patriot  and  as  churchman,^  will  be 
quick  to  cherish  all  those  symptoms  of  higher  life 
which  indicate  that  society  is  still  a  living  organism. 
He  will  zealously  believe  and  teach  that  even  a  small 
leaven  may  leaven  the  whole  mass.  He  will  remember 
that  ten  righteous  men  might  have  saved  Sodom ;  that, 
so  long  as  it  is  possible,  God  will  work  by  encourag- 
ing and  rewarding  willing  obedience  rather  than  by 
chastising  and  coercing  sin. 

Thus  Jeremiah,  even  when  he  teaches  that  the  day 
of  grace  is  over,  recurs  wistfully  to  the  possibilities  of 
salvation  once  offered  to  repentance.^  Was  not  this 
the  message  of  all  the  prophets :  "  Return  ye  now 
every  one  from  his  evil  way,  and  from  the  evil  of  your 
doings,  and  dwell  in  the  land  that  Jehovah  hath 
given  unto  3^our  fathers  "  ?  ^     Even  at  the  beginning  of 

'  "  Church "  is   used,    in   the  true  Catholic  sense,  to  embrace  all 
Christians. 

^  xxvii,  18.  ^  XXV.  5,  XXXV.  15, 


298  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

Jehoiakim's  reign  Jehovah  entrusted  Jeremiah  with  a 
message  of  mercy,  saying :  "  It  may  be  they  will 
hearken,  and  turn  every  man  from  his  evil  way ;  that 
I  may  repent  Me  of  the  evil,  which  I  purpose  to  do 
unto  them  because  of  the  evil  of  their  doings."^  When 
the  prophet  multiplied  the  dark  and  lurid  features  of 
his  picture,  he  was  not  gloating  with  morbid  enjoyment 
over  the  national  misery,  but  rather  hoped  that  the 
awful  vision  of  judgment  might  lead  them  to  pause, 
and  reflect  and  repent.  In  his  age  history  had  not 
accumulated  her  now  abundant  proofs  that  the  guilty 
conscience  is  panoplied  in  triple  brass  against  most 
visions  of  judgment.  The  sequel  of  Jeremiah's  own 
mission  was  added  evidence  for  this  truth. 

Yet  it  dawned  but  slowly  on  the  prophet's  mind. 
The  covenant  of  emancipation  ^  in  the  last  days  of 
Zedekiah  was  doubtless  proposed  by  Jeremiah  as  a 
possible  beginning  of  better  things,  an  omen  of  salva- 
tion, even  at  the  eleventh  hour.  To  the  very  last  the 
prophet  offered  the  king  his  life  and  promised  that 
Jerusalem  should  not  be  burnt,  if  only  he  would 
submit  to  the  Chaldeans,  and  thus  accept  the  Divine 
judgment  and  acknowledge  its  justice. 

Faithful  friends  have  sometimes  stood  by  the  drunkard 
or  the  gambler,  and  striven  for  his  deliverance  through 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  his  downward  career ;  to  the 
very  last  they  have  hoped  against  hope,  have  welcomed 
and  encouraged  every  feeble  stand  against  evil  habit, 
every  transient  flash  of  high  resolve.  But,  long  before 
the  end,  they  have  owned,  with  sinking  heart,  that  the 
only  way  to  salvation  lay  through  the  ruin  of  health, 
fortune,  and  reputation.    So,  when  the  edge  of  youthful 

2  Chap.  XI. 


xxii.  1-9,  xxvi.  14-]  RUIN  299 

hopefulness  had  quickly  worn  itself  away,  Jeremiah 
knew  in  his  inmost  heart  that,  in  spite  of  prayers  and 
promises  and  exhortations,  the  fate  of  Judah  was 
sealed.  Let  us  therefore  try  to  reproduce  the  picture 
of  coming  ruin  which  Jeremiah  kept  persistently  before 
the  eyes  of  his  fellow-countrymen.  The  pith  and 
power  of  his  prophecies  lay  in  the  prospect  of  their 
speedy  fulfilment.  With  him,  as  with  Savonarola,  a 
cardinal  doctrine  was  that  ''before  the  regeneration 
must  come  the  scourge,"  and  that  "  these  things  will 
come  quickly."  Here  again,  Jeremiah  took  up  the 
burden  of  Hosea's  utterances.  The  elder  prophet  said 
of  Israel,  ''  The  days  of  visitation  are  corf!?^' ;  ^  and  his 
successor  announced  to  Judah  the  coming  of  ''  the  year 
of  visitation."  ^  The  long-deferred  assize  was  at  hand, 
when  the  Judge  would  reckon  with  Judah  for  her 
manifold  infidelities,  would  pronounce  sentence  and 
execute  judgment. 

If  the  hour  of  doom  had  struck,  it  was  not  difficult 
to  surmise  whence  destruction  would  come  or  the  man 
who  would  prove  its  instrument.  The  North  (named 
in  Hebrew  the  hidden  quarter)  was  to  the  Jews  the 
mother  of  things  unforeseen  and  terrible.  Isaiah 
menaced  the  PhiHstines  with  ''  a  smoke  out  of  the 
north,"  ^  i.e.  the  Assyrians.  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  both 
speak  very  frequently  of  the  destroyers  of  Judah  as 
coming  from  the  north.  Probably  the  early  references 
in  our  book  to  northern  enemies  denote  the  Scythians, 
who  invaded  Syria  towards  the  beginning  of  Josiah's 
reign ;  but  later  on  the  danger  from  the  north  is  the 
restored  Chaldean  Empire,  under  its  king  Nebuchad- 
nezzar.    "North"  is  even  less  accurate  geographically 

'  Hosea  ix.  7.  ^  xxiii.  12.  ^  Isa.  xiv.  31. 


300  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

for  Chaldea  than  for  Assyria.  Probably  it  was  accepted 
in  a  somewhat  symbolic  sense  for  Assyria,  and  then 
transferred  to  Chaldea  as  her  successor  in  the  hege- 
mony of  Western  Asia. 

Nebuchadnezzar  is  first  ^  introduced  in  the  fourth 
year  of  Jehoiakim  ;  after  the  decisive  defeat  of  Pharaoh 
Necho  by  Nebuchadnezzar  at  Carchemish,  Jeremiah 
prophesied  the  devastation  of  Judah  by  the  victor  ;  it 
is  also  prophesied  that  he  is  to  carry  Jehoiachin  away 
captive,^  and  similar  prophecies  were  repeated  during 
the  reign  of  Zedekiah.^  Nebuchadnezzar  and  his 
Chaldeans  very  closely  resembled  the  Ass^Tians,  with 
whose  invasions  the  Jews  had  long  been  only  too 
familiar ;  indeed,  as  Chaldea  had  long  been  tributary 
to  Assyria,  it  is  morally  certain  that  Chaldean  princes 
must  have  been  present  with  auxiliary  forces  at  more 
than  one  of  the  many  Assyrian  invasions  of  Palestine. 
Under  Hezekiah,  on  the  other  hand,  Judah  had  been 
allied  with  Merodach-baladan  of  Babylon  against  his 
Assyrian  suzerain.  So  that  the  circumstances  of 
Chaldean  invasions  and  conquests  were  familiar  to 
the  Jews  before  the  forces  of  the  restored  empire  first 
attacked  them  ;  their  imagination  could  readily  picture 
the  horrors  of  such  experiences. 

But  Jeremiah  does  not  leave  them  to  their  unaided 
imagination,  which  they  might  preferably  have  employed 


'  XXV.  I-14  :  "first,"  i.e.,  in  time,  not  in  the  order  of  chapters  in  our 
Book  of  Jeremiah. 

"^  xxii.  25.  Jehoiachin  (Kings,  Chronicles,  and  Jer.  lii.  31)  is  also 
called  Coniah  (Jer.  xxii.  24,  28,  xxxvii.  i)  and  Jeconiah  (Chronicles, 
Esther,  Jer.  xxiv.  i,  xxvii.  20,  xxviii.  4,  xxix,  2).  They  are  virtually' 
forms  of  the  same  name,  the  "  Yah  "  of  the  Divine  Name  being 
prefixed  in  the  first  and  affixed  in  the  last  two. 

'  xxi.  7,  xxviii.  14. 


xxii.  i-9,xxvi.  14-]  RUIN 


upon  more  agreeable  subjects.  He  makes  them  see 
the  future  reign  of  terror,  as  Jehovah  had  revealed  it 
to  his  shuddering  and  reluctant  vision.  With  his  usual 
frequency  of  iteration,  he  keeps  the  phrase  "  the  sword, 
the  famine,  and  the  pestilence  "  ringing  in  their  ears. 
The  sword  was  the  symbol  of  the  invading  hosts,  ''  the 
splendid  and  awful  military  parade "  of  the  "  bitter 
and  hasty  nation  "  that  were  "  dreadful  and  terrible."  ^ 
'^  The  famine "  inevitably  followed  from  the  ravages 
of  the  invaders,  and  the  impossibility  of  ploughing, 
sowing,  and  reaping.  It  became  most  gruesome  in  the 
last  desperate  agonies  of  besieged  garrisons,  when, 
as  in  Elisha's  time  and  the  last  siege  of  Jerusalem, 
"  men  ate  the  flesh  of  their  sons  and  the  flesh  of  their 
daughters,  and  ate  every  one  the  flesh  of  his  friend."  ^ 
Among  such  miseries  and  horrors,  the  stench  of  unburied 
corpses  naturally  bred  a  pestilence,  which  raged  amongst 
the  multitudes  of  refugees  huddled  together  in  Jerusalem 
and  the  fortified  towns.  We  are  reminded  how  the 
great  plague  of  Athens  struck  down  its  victims  from 
among  the  crowds  driven  within  its  walls  during  the 
long  siege  of  the  Peloponnesian  war. 

An  ordinary  Englishman  can  scarcely  do  justice  to 
such  prophecies ;  his  comprehension  is  limited  by  a 
happy  inexperience.  The  constant  repetition  of  general 
phrases  seems  meagre  and  cold,  because  they  carry 
few  associations  and  awaken  no  memories.  Those 
who  have  studied  French  and  Russian  realistic  art,  and 
have  read  Erckmann-Chatrain,  Zola,  and  Tolstoi,  may 
be  stirred  somewhat  more  by  Jeremiah's  grim  rhetoric. 
It  will  not  be  wanting  in  suggestiveness  to  those 
who  have  known    battles  and  sieges.      For   students 

'  Habakkuk  i.  6,  7.  ^  xix,  9. 


302  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


of  missionary  literature  we  may  roughly  compare  the 
Jews,  when  exposed  to  the  full  fury  of  a  Chaldean 
attack,  to  the  inhabitants  of  African  villages  raided  by 
slave-hunters. 

The  Jews,  therefore,  with  their  extensive,  first- 
hand knowledge  of  the  miseries  denounced  against 
them,  could  not  help  filling  in  for  themselves  the  rough 
outline  drawn  by  Jeremiah.  Very  probably,  too,  his 
speeches  were  more  detailed  and  realistic  than  the 
written  reports.  As  time  went  on,  the  inroads  of  the 
Chaldeans  and  their  allies  provided  graphic  and  ghastly 
illustrations  of  the  prophecies  that  Jeremiah  still 
reiterated.  In  a  prophecy,  possibly  originally  referring 
to  the  Scythian  inroads  and  afterwards  adapted  to  the 
Chaldean  invasions,  Jeremiah  speaks  of  himself:  *'  I  am 
pained  at  my  very  heart ;  my  heart  is  disquieted  in  me ; 
I  cannot  hold  my  peace ;  for  my  soul  heareth  ^  the 
sound  of  the  trumpet,  the  alarm  of  war.  .  .  .  How  long 
shall  I  see  the  standard,  and  hear  the  sound  of  the 
trumpet  ?  "  ^  Here,  for  once,  Jeremiah  expressed  emo- 
tions that  throbbed  in  every  heart.  There  was  "  terror 
on  every  hand  "  ;  men  seemed  to  be  walking  "  through 
slippery  places  in  darkness,"  ^  or  to  stumble  along  rough 
paths  in  a  dreary  twilight.  Wormwood  was  their  daily 
food,  and  their  drink  maddening  draughts  of  poison.* 

Jeremiah  and  his  prophecies  were  no  mean  part  of 
the  terror.  To  the  devotees  of  Baal  and  Moloch 
Jeremiah  must  have  appeared  in  much  the  same  light 
as  the  fanatic  whose  ravings  added  to  the  horrors  of 
the  Plague  of  London,  while  the  very  sanity  and 
sobriety  of  his  utterances  carried  a  conviction  of  their 
fatal  truth. 

^  R.V.  margin.  ^  iv.  21.  "  xxiii.  12,  *  xxiii.  15. 


xxii.  1-9,  xxvi.  I4.J  RUIN  303 

When  the  people  and  their  leaders  succeeded  in 
collecting  any  force  of  soldiers  or  store  of  military 
equipment,  and  ventured  on  a  sally,  Jeremiah  was  at 
once  at  hand  to  quench  any  reviving  hope  of  effective 
resistance.  How  could  soldiers  and  weapons  preserve 
the  city  which  Jehovah  had  abandoned  to  its  fate  ? 
^'Thus  saith  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel:  Behold,  I 
will  turn  back  the  weapons  in  3^our  hands,  with  which 
ye  fight  without  the  walls  against  your  besiegers,  the 
king  of  Babylon  and  the  Chaldeans,  and  will  gather 
them  into  the  midst  of  this  city.  I  Myself  will  fight 
against  you  in  furious  anger  and  in  great  wrath,  with 
outstretched  hand  and  strong  arm.  I  will  smite  the 
inhabitants  of  this  city,  both  man  and  beast :  they  shall 
die  of  a  great  pestilence."  ^ 

When  Jerusalem  was  relieved  for  a  time  by  the 
advance  of  an  Egyptian  army,  and  the  people  allowed 
themselves  to  dream  of  another  deliverance  like  that  from 
Sennacherib,  the  relentless  prophet  only  turned  upon 
them  with  renewed  scorn:  '^Though  ye  had  smitten  the 
whole  hostile  army  of  the  Chaldeans,  and  all  that  were 
left  of  them  were  desperately  wounded,  yet  should  they 
rise  up  every  man  in  his  tent  and  burn  this  city."  ^  Not 
even  the  most  complete  victory  could  avail  to  save  the 
city. 

The  final  result  of  invasions  and  sieges  was  to  be 
the  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  state,  the  capture  and 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  captivity  of  the 
people.  This  unhappy  generation  were  to  reap  the 
harvest  of  centuries  of  sin  and  failure.  As  in  the 
last  siege  of  Jerusalem  there  came  upon  the  Jews 
"  all  the  righteous  blood   shed  on  the  earth,  from  the 

*  xxi.  3-6.  2  XXX vii.  10. 


304  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

blood  of  righteous  Abel  unto  the  blood  of  Zachariah 
son  of  Barachiah/'^  so  now  Jehovah  was  about  to  bring 
upon  His  Chosen  People  all  the  evil  that  He  had 
spoken  against  them  ^ — all  that  had  been  threatened 
by  Isaiah  and  his  brother-prophets,  all  the  curses 
written  in  Deuteronomy.  But  these  threats  were  to 
be  fully  carried  out,  not  because  predictions  must  be 
fulfilled,  nor  even  merely  because  Jehovah  had  spoken 
and  His  word  must  not  return  to  Him  void,  but 
because  the  people  had  not  hearkened  and  obeyed. 
His  threats  were  never  meant  to  exclude  the  penitent 
from  the  possibility  of  pardon. 

As  Jeremiah  had  insisted  upon  the  guilt  of  every 
class  of  the  community,  so  he  is  also  careful  to 
enumerate  all  the  classes  as  about  to  suffer  from  the 
coming  judgment:  "Zedekiah  king  of  Judah  and  his 
princes "  f  "  the  people,  the  prophet,  and  the  priest."* 
This  Last  Judgment  of  Judah,  as  it  took  the  form  of 
the  complete  overthrow  of  the  State,  necessarily  in- 
cluded all  under  its  sentence  of  doom.  One  of  the 
mysteries  of  Providence  is  that  those  who  are  most 
responsible  for  national  sins  seem  to  suffer  least  by 
pubhc  misfortunes.  Ambitious  statesmen  and  bellicose 
journalists  do  not  generally  fall  in  battle  and  leave 
destitute  widows  and  children.  When  the  captains 
of  commerce  and  manufacture  err  in  their  industrial 
policy,  one  great  result  is  the  pauperism  of  hundreds 
of  families  who  had  no  voice  in  the  matter.  A  spends 
thrift  landlord  may  cripple  the  agriculture  of  half  a 
county.  And  yet,  when  factories  are  closed  and 
farmers   ruined,    the    manufacturer    and    the    landlord 


'  Matt,  xxiii.  35.  '  xxxiv.  21. 

'  XXXV.  17:  cf.  xix.  15,  xxxvi.  31.  *  xxiii.  33,  34. 


xxii,  i-9,xxvi.  14-]  RUIN  305 


are  the  last  to  see  want.  In  former  invasions  of 
Judah,  the  princes  and  priests  had  some  share  of 
suffering;  but  wealthy  nobles  might  incur  losses  and 
yet  weather  the  storm  by  which  poorer  men  were 
overwhelmed.  Fines  and  tribute  levied  by  the  in- 
vaders would,  after  the  manner  of  the  East,  be  wrung 
from  the  weak  and  helpless.  But  now  ruin  was  to 
fall  on  all  alike.  The  nobles  had  been  flagrant  in 
sin,  they  were  now  to  be  marked  out  for  most  condign 
punishment — "  To  whomsoever  much  is  given,  of  him 
shall  much  be  required." 

Part  of  the  burden  of  Jeremiah's  prophecy,  one  of  the 
sayings  constantly  on  his  lips,  was  that  the  city  would 
be  taken  and  destroyed  by  fire.^  The  Temple  would 
be  laid  in  ruins  like  the  ancient  sanctuary  of  Israel  at 
Shiloh.^  The  palaces  ^  of  the  king  and  princes  would  be 
special  marks  for  the  destructive  fury  of  the  enemy,  and 
their  treasures  and  all  the  wealth  of  the  city  would  be 
for  a  spoil ;  those  who  survived  the  sack  of  the  city 
would  be  carried  captive  to  Babylon.* 

In  this  general  ruin  the  miseries  of  the  people  would 
not  end  with  death.  All  nations  have  attached  much 
importance  to  the  burial  of  the  dead  and  the  due 
performance  of  funeral  rites.  In  the  touching  Greek 
story  Antigone  sacrificed  her  life  in  order  to  bury  the 
remains  of  her  brother.  Later  Judaism  attached  ex- 
ceptional importance  to  the  burial  of  the  dead,  and  the 
Book  of  Tobit  lays  great  stress  on  this  sacred  duty. 
The  angel  Raphael  declares  that  one  special  reason 
why  the  Lord  had  been  merciful  to  Tobias  was  that 
he  had  buried  dead  bodies,  and  had  not  delayed  to  rise 

^  xxxiv.  2,  22,  xxxvii.  8.  ^  vi.  5. 

'  vii.  and  xxvi.  ■*  xx.  5, 

20 


3o6  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

up  and  leave  his  meal  to  go  and  bury  the  corpse  of  a 
murdered  Jew,  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life.-^ 

Jeremiah  prophesied  of  the  slain  in  this  last  over- 
throw :  "  They  shall  not  be  lamented,  neither  shall  they 
be  buried ;  they  shall  be  as  dung  on  the  face  of  the 
ground ;  .  •  .  their  carcases  shall  be  meat  for  the  fowls 
of  the  heaven,  and  for  the  beasts  of  the  earth." 

When  these  last  had  done  their  ghastly  work,  the 
site  of  the  Temple,  the  city,  the  whole  land  would  be 
left  silent  and  desolate.  The  stranger,  wandering 
amidst  the  ruins,  would  hear  no  cheerful  domestic  sounds; 
when  night  fell,  no  light  gleaming  through  chink  or 
lattice  would  give  the  sense  of  human  neighbourhood. 
Jehovah  ''  would  take  away  the  sound  of  the  millstones 
and  the  light  of  the  candle."  ^  The  only  sign  of  life 
amidst  the  desolate  ruins  of  Jerusalem  and  the  cities  of 
Judah  would  be  the  melancholy  cry  of  the  jackals  round 
the  traveller's  tent.^ 

The  Hebrew  prophets  and  our  Lord  Himself  often 
borrowed  their  symbols  from  the  scenes  of  common 
life,  as  they  passed  before  their  eyes.  As  in  the  days 
of  Noah,  as  in  the  days  of  Lot,  as  in  the  days  of  the 
Son  of  Man,  so  in  the  last  agony  of  Judah  there  was 
marrying  and  giving  in  marriage.  Some  such  festive 
occasion  suggested  to  Jeremiah  one  of  his  favourite 
formulae ;  it  occurs  four  times  in  the  Book  of  Jeremiah, 
and  was  probably  uttered  much  oftener.  Again  and 
again  it  may  have  happened  that,  as  a  marriage  pro- 
cession passed  through  the  streets,  the  gay  company 
were  startled  by  the  grim  presence  of  the  prophet,  and 
shrank  back  in  dismay  as  they  found  themselves  made 
the  text  for  a  stern  homily  of  ruin  :  "  Thus  saith 
Jehovah  Sabaoth,  I  will  take  away  from  them  the  voice 

'  Tobit  xii.  13:  cf.  ii.  '^  xxv.  lO.  ^  ix.  II,  x.  22. 


xxii.  1-9,  xxvi.  14-]  RUIN  307 

of  mirth  and  the  voice  of  gladness,  the  voice  of  the 
bridegroom  and  the  voice  of  the  bride."  At  any  rate, 
however,  and  whenever  used,  the  figure  could  not  fail 
to  arrest  attention,  and  to  serve  as  an  emphatic  declara- 
tion that  the  ordinary  social  routine  would  be  broken 
up  and  lost  in  the  coming  calamity. 

Henceforth  the  land  would  be  as  some  guilty  habita- 
tion of  sinners,  devoted  to  eternal  destruction,  an 
astonishment  and  a  hissing  and  a  perpetual  desolation.^ 
When  the  heathen  sought  some  curse  to  express  the 
extreme  of  malignant  hatred,  they  would  use  the  formula, 
*'  God  make  thee  like  Jerusalem."  ^  Jehovah's  Chosen 
People  would  become  an  everlasting  reproach,  a  per- 
petual shame,  which  should  not  be  forgotten.^  The 
wrath  of  Jehovah  pursued  even  captives  and  fugitives. 
In  chapter  xxix.  Jeremiah  predicts  the  punishment  of 
the  Jewish  prophets  at  Babylon.  When  we  last  hear 
of  him,  in  Egypt,  he  is  denouncing  ruin  against  "the 
remnant  of  Judah  that  have  set  their  faces  to  go  into 
the  land  of  Egypt  to  sojourn  there."  He  still  reiterates 
the  same  familiar  phrases  :  "  Ye  shall  die  by  the  sword, 
by  the  famine,  and  by  the  pestilence " ;  they  shall  be 
**  an  execration,  and  an  astonishment,  and  a  curse,  and 
a  reproach." 

We  have  now  traced  the  details  of  the  prophet's 
message  of  doom.  Fulfilment  followed  fast  upon  the 
heels  of  prediction,  till  Jeremiah  rather  interpreted 
than  foretold  the  thick-coming  disasters.  When  his 
book  was  compiled,  the  prophecies  were  already,  as  they 
are  now,  part  of  the  history  of  the  last  days  of  Judah. 
The  book  became  the  record  of  this  great  tragedy,  in 
which  these  prophecies  take  the  place  of  the  choric 
odes  in  a  Greek  drama. 

■'  xxvi.  6.  ^  xxiii.  40. 


CHAPTER   XXX 

RESTORATION— I.  THE  SYMBOL 
xxxii 

"And  I  bought  the  field  of  Hanameel." — Jer.  xxxii.  9. 

WHEN  Jeremiah  was  first  called  to  his  prophetic 
mission,  after  the  charge  "  to  pluck  up  and  to 
break  down,  and  to  destroy  and  to  overthrow,"  there 
were  added — almost  as  if  they  were  an  afterthought — 
the  words  "to  build  and  to  plant." ^  Throughout  a 
large  part  of  the  book  little  or  nothing  is  said  about 
building  and  planting ;  but,  at  last,  four  consecutive 
chapters,  xxx. — xxxiii.,  are  almost  entirely  devoted  to 
this  subject.  Jeremiah's  characteristic  phrases  are 
not  all  denunciatory ;  we  owe  to  him  the  description 
of  Jehovah  as  "  the  Hope  of  Israel."  ^  Sin  and  ruin, 
guilt  and  punishment,  could  not  quench  the  hope  that 
centred  in  Him.  Though  the  day  of  Jehovah  might  be 
darkness  and  not  light,^  yet,  through  the  blackness  of 
this  day  turned  into  night,  the  prophets  beheld  a 
radiant  dawn.  When  all  other  building  and  planting 
were  over  for  Jeremiah,  when  it  might  seem  that  much 
that  he  had  planted  was  being  rooted  up  again  in  the 
overthrow  of  Judah,  he  was  yet  permitted  to  plant 
shoots  in   the  garden  of  the   Lord,   which  have  since 

'  i.   10.  '^  xiv.  8,  xvii.  13.  ^  Amos  v.  18,  20. 

308 


xxxii.]  RESTORATION— I.   THE  SYMBOL  309 

— —— . a 

become  trees  whose  leaves  are  for  the  healing  of  the 
nations. 

The  symbolic  act  dealt  with  in  this  chapter  is  a 
convenient  introduction  to  the  prophecies  of  restoration, 
especially  as  chapters  xxx.,  xxxi.,  have  no  title  and  are 
of  uncertain  date. 

The  incident  of  the  purchase  of  HanamxCel's  field  is 
referred  by  the  title  to  the  year  587  B.C.,  when  Jeremiah 
was  in  prison  and  the  capture  of  the  city  was  imminent. 
Verses  2-6  are  an  introduction  by  some  editor,  who 
was  anxious  that  his  readers  should  fully  understand 
the  narrative  that  follows.  They  are  compiled  from 
the  rest  of  the  book,  and  contain  nothing  that  need 
detain  us. 

When  Jeremiah  was  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison, 
he  was  on  his  way  to  Anathoth  '^  to  receive  his  portion 
there,"  ^  i,e.y  as  we  gather  from  this  chapter,  to  take 
possession  of  an  inheritance  that  devolved  upon  him. 
As  he  was  now  unable  to  attend  to  this  business  at 
Anathoth,  his  cousin  Hanameel  came  to  him  in  the 
prison,  to  give  him  the  opportunity  of  observing  the 
necessary  formalities.  In  his  enforced  leisure  Jeremiah 
would  often  recur  to  the  matter  on  which  he  had  been 
engaged  w^hen  he  was  arrested.  An  interrupted  piece 
of  work  is  apt  to  intrude  itself  upon  the  mind  with 
tiresome  importunity  ;  moreover  his  dismal  surroundings 
would  remind  him  of  his  business — it  had  been  the 
cause  of  his  imprisonment.  The  bond  between  an 
Israelite  and  the  family  inheritance  was  almost  as  close 
and  sacred  as  that  between  Jehovah  and  the  Land  of 
Promise.  Naboth  had  died  a  martyr  to  the  duty  he 
owed  to  the  land.     ''Jehovah  forbid  that  I  should  give 


'  xxxvii.  12  (R.V.). 


-V-v 


3IO  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

thee  the  inheritance  of  my  fathers,"  ^  said  he  to  Ahab. 
And  now,  in  the  final  crisis  of  the  fortunes  of  Judah, 
the  prophet  whose  heart  was  crushed  by  the  awful 
task  laid  upon  him  had  done  what  he  could  to  secure 
the  rights  of  his  family  in  the  "  field  "  at  Anathoth. 

Apparently  he  had  failed.  The  oppression  of  his 
spirits  would  suggest  that  Jehovah  had  disapproved 
and  frustrated  his  purpose.  His  failure  was  another 
sign  of  the  utter  ruin  of  the  nation.  The  solemn  grant 
of  the  Land  of  Promise  to  the  Chosen  People  was 
finally  revoked ;  and  Jehovah  no  longer  sanctioned 
the  ancient  ceremonies  which  bound  the  households 
and  clans  of  Israel  to  the  soil  of  their  inheritance. 

In  some  such  mood,  Jeremiah  received  the  intimation 
that  his  cousin  Hanameel  was  on  his  way  to  see  him 
about  this  very  business.  '*  The  word  of  Jehovah  came 
unto  him  :  Behold,  thine  uncle  Shallum's  son  Hana- 
meel is  coming  to  thee,  to  say  unto  thee.  Buy  my  field 
in  Anathoth,  for  it  is  thy  duty  to  buy  it  by  way  of 
redemption."  The  prophet  was  roused  to  fresh 
perplexity.  The  opportunity  might  be  a  Divine 
command  to  proceed  with  the  redemption.  And  yet 
he  was  a  childless  man  doomed  to  die  in  exile.  What 
had  he  to  do  with  a  field  at  Anathoth  in  that  great 
and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  ?  Death  or  captivity  was 
staring  every  one  in  the  face  ;  land  was  worthless.  The 
transaction  would  put  money  into  Hanameel's  pocket. 
The  eagerness  of  a  Jew  to  make  sure  of  a  good  bargain 
seemed  no  very  safe  indication  of  the  will  of  Jehovah. 

In  this  uncertain  frame  of  mind  Hanameel  found  his 
cousin,  when  he  came  to  demand  that  Jeremiah  should 
buy  his  field.     Perhaps  the  prisoner  found  his  kinsman's 

'   I  Kings  xxi.  3. 


xxxii.]  RESTORATION— I.  THE  SYMBOL  311 

presence  a  temporary  mitigation  of  his  gloomy  sur- 
roundings, and  was  inspired  with  more  cheerful  and 
kindly  feelings.  The  solemn  and  formal  appeal  to  fulfil 
a  kinsman's  duty  towards  the  family  inheritance  came 
to  him  as  a  Divine  command :  '*  I  knew  that  this  was 
the  word  of  Jehovah." 

The  cousins  proceeded  with  their  business,  which  was 
in  no  way  hindered  by  the  arrangements  of  the  prison. 
We  must  be  careful  to  dismiss  from  our  minds  all  the 
associations  of  the  routine  and  discipline  of  a  modern 
English  gaol.  The  '^  court  of  the  guard  "  in  which  they 
were  was  not  properly  a  prison  ;  it  was  a  place  of 
detention,  not  of  punishment.  The  prisoners  may  have 
been  fettered,  but  they  were  together  and  could  com- 
municate with  each  other  and  with  their  friends.  The 
conditions  were  not  unlike  those  of  a  debtors'  prison  such 
as  the  old  Marshalsea,  as  described  in  Little  Dorrit. 

Our  information  as  to  this  right  or  duty  of  the  next- 
of-kin  to  buy  or  buy  back  land  is  of  the  scantiest.^ 
The  leading  case  is  that  in  the  Book  of  Ruth,  w^here, 
however,  the  purchase  of  land  is  altogether  secondary 
to  the  levirate  marriage.  The  land  custom  assumes 
that  an  Israelite  will  only  part  with  his  land  in  case  of 
absolute  necessity,  and  it  was  evidently  supposed  that 
some  member  of  the  clan  would  feel  bound  to  purchase. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  Ruth,  the  next-of-kin  is  readily 
allowed  to  transfer  the  obligation  to  Boaz.  Why 
Hanameel  sold  his  field  we  cannot  tell ;  in  these  days 
of  constant  invasion,  most  of  the  small  landowners  must 
have  been  reduced  to  great  distress,  and  would  gladly 
have  found  purchasers  for  their  property.  The  kinsman 
to  whom  land  was  offered  would  pretty  generally  refuse 

'  Lev.  XXV,  25,  Law^  of  Holiness;  Ruth  iv. 


312  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

to  pay  anything  but  a  nominal  price.  Formerly  the  de- 
mand that  the  next-of-kin  should  buy  an  inheritance 
was  seldom  made,  but  the  exceptional  feature  in  this  case 
was  Jeremiah's  willingness  to  conform  to  ancient  custom. 

The  price  paid  for  the  field  was  seventeen  shekels  of 
silver,  but,  however  precise  this  information  may  seem, 
it  really  tells  us  very  little.  A  curious  illustration  is 
furnished  by  modern  currency  difficulties.  The  shekel, 
in  the  time  of  the  Maccabees,  when  we  are  first  able 
to  determine  its  value  with  some  certainty,  contained 
about  half  an  ounce  of  silver,  i.e.  about  the  amount  of 
metal  in  an  English  half-crown.  The  commentaries 
accordingly  continue  to  reckon  the  shekel  as  worth  half- 
a-crown,  whereas  its  value  by  weight  according  to  the 
present  price  of  silver  would  be  about  fourteenpence. 
Probably  the  purchasing  power  of  silver  was  not  more 
stable  in  ancient  Palestine  than  it  is  now.  Fifty  shekels 
seemed  to  David  and  Araunah  a  hberal  price  for  a 
threshing-floor  and  its  oxen,  but  the  Chronicler  thought 
it  quite  inadequate.'^  We  know  neither  the  size  of 
Hanameel's  field  nor  the  quality  of  the  land,  nor  yet 
the  value  of  the  shekels ;  ^  but  the  symbolic  use  made 
of  the  incident  implies  that  Jeremiah  paid  a  fair  and 
not  a  panic  price. 

The  silver  was  duly  weighed  in  the  presence  of 
witnesses  and  of  all  the  Jews  that  were  in  the  court 
of  the  guard,  apparently  including  the  prisoners ;  their 
position   as  respectable  members   of  society  was  not 

*  2  Sam.  xxiv.  24  :  cf.  i  Chron.  xxi.  25,  where  the  price  is  six  hundred 
shekels  of  gold.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  point  out  that  "  thresh- 
ing-floor "  (Sam.)  and  "  place  of  the  threshing-floor "  (Chron.)  are 
synonymous. 

^  By  value  here  is  meant  purchasing  power,  to  which  the  weight 
denoted  by  the  term  shekel  is  now  no  clue. 


xxxii.]  RESTORATION— I.  THE  SYMBOL  313 

affected  by  their  imprisonment.  A  deed  or  deeds  were 
drawn  up,  signed  by  Jeremiah  and  the  witnesses,  and 
pubHcly  dehvered  to  Baruch  to  be  kept  safely  in  an 
earthen  vessel.  The  legal  formalities  are  described 
with  some  detail ;  possibly  they  were  observed  with 
exceptional  punctiliousness ;  at  any  rate,  great  stress 
is  laid  upon  the  exact  fulfilment  of  all  that  law  and 
custom  demanded.  Unfortunately,  in  the  course  of 
so  many  centuries,  much  of  the  detail  has  become 
unintelligible.  For  instance,  Jeremiah  the  purchaser 
signs  the  record  of  the  purchase,  but  nothing  is  said 
about  Hanameel  signing.  When  Abraham  bought  the 
field  of  Machpelah  of  Ephron  the  Hittite  there  was  no 
written  deed,  the  land  was  simply  transferred  in  public 
at  the  gate  of  the  city.^  Here  the  written  record 
becomes  valid  by  being  publicly  delivered  to  Baruch 
in  the  presence  of  Hanameel  and  the  witnesses.  The 
details  with  regard  to  the  deeds  are  very  obscure,  and 
the  text  is  doubtful..  The  Hebrew  apparently  refers 
to  two  deeds,  but  the  Septuagint  for  the  most  part  to 
one  only.  The  R. V.  of  verse  1 1  runs :  "  So  I  took 
the  deed  of  the  purchase,  both  that  which  was  sealed, 
according  to  the  law  and  the  custom,  and  that  which 
was  open."  The  Septuagint  omits  everything  after 
''that  which  was  sealed"  ;  and,  in  any  case,  the  words 
''  the  law  and  the  custom  " — better,  as  R.V.  margin, 
^^  containing  the  terms  and  the  conditions" — are  a  gloss. 
In  verse  14  the  R.  V.  has  :  '*  Take  these  deeds,  this  deed 
of  the  purchase,  both  that  which  is  sealed,  and  this  deed 
which  is  open,  and  put  them  in  an  earthen  vessel." 
The  Septuagint  reads  :  ''  Take  this  book  of  the  purchase 
and  this  book  that  has  been  read,^  and  thou  shalt  put 

*  Gen.  xxiii.  {P.). 

^  dpeyvuij/xivoPf  probably  a  corruption  of  dveuty/j.^voi'. 


314  THE   BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

it  in  an  earthen  vessel."  ^  It  is  possible  that,  as  has 
been  suggested,  the  reference  to  two  deeds  has  arisen 
out  of  a  misunderstanding  of  the  description  of  a  single 
deed.  Scribes  may  have  altered  or  added  to  the  text 
in  order  to  make  it  state  explicitly  what  they  supposed 
to  be  implied.  No  reason  is  given  for  having  two 
deeds.  We  could  have  understood  the  double  record 
if  each  party  had  retained  one  of  the  documents,  or  if 
one  had  been  buried  in  the  earthen  vessel  and  the  other 
kept  for  reference,  but  both  are  put  into  the  earthen 
vessel.  The  terms  '^  that  which  is  sealed  "  and  "  that 
which  is  open "  may,  however,  be  explained  of  either 
of  one  or  two  documents  ^  somewhat  as  follows  :  the 
record  was  written,  signed,  and  witnessed ;  it  was  then 
folded  up  and  sealed ;  part  or  the  whole  of  the  contents 
of  this  sealed-up  record  was  then  written  again  on  the 
outside  or  on  a  separate  parchment,  so  that  the  purport 
of  the  deed  could  easily  be  ascertained  without  ex- 
posing the  original  record.  The  Assyrian  and  Chaldean 
contract-tablets  were  constructed  on  this  principle ;  the 
contract  was  first  written  on  a  clay  tablet,  which  was 
further  enclosed  in  an  envelope  of  clay,  and  on  the 
outside  was  engraved  an  exact  copy  of  the  writing 
within.  If  the  outer  writing  became  indistinct  or  was 
tampered  with,  the  envelope  could  be  broken  and  the 
exact  terms  of  the  contract  ascertained  from  the  first 
tablet.  Numerous  examples  of  this  method  can  be 
seen  in  the  British  Museum.  The  Jews  had  been 
vassals  of  Assyria  and  Babylon  for  about  a  century, 
and  thus  must  have  had  ample  opportunity  to  become 
acquainted    with   their   legal    procedure;    and,   in   this 

»  The  text  varies  in  different  MSS.  of  the  LXX. 
■^  Cf.  Cheyne,  etc.,  in  loco. 


xxxii.]  RESTORATION— I.  THE  SYMBOL  315 

instance,  Jeremiah  and  his  friends  may  have  imitated 
the  Chaldeans.  Such  an  imitation  would  be  specially 
significant  in  what  was  intended  to  symbolise  the 
transitoriness  of  the  Chaldean  conquest. 

The  earthen  vessel  would  preserve  the  record  from 
being  spoilt  by  the  damp ;  similarly  bottles  are  used 
nowadays  to  preserve  the  documents  that  are  built 
up  into  the  memorial  stones  of  public  buildings.  In 
both  cases  the  object  is  that  "  they  may  continue  many 
days." 

So  far  the  prophet  had  proceeded  in  simple  obedience 
to  a  Divine  command  to  fulfil  an  obligation  which 
otherwise  might  excusably  have  been  neglected.  He 
felt  that  his  action  was  a  parable  which  suggested  that 
Judah  might  retain  its  ancient  inheritance/  but  Jere- 
miah hesitated  to  accept  an  interpretation  seemingly 
at  variance  with  the  judgments  he  had  pronounced 
upon  the  guilty  people.  When  he  had  handed  over 
the  deed  to  Baruch,  and  his  mind  was  no  longer 
occupied  with  legal  minutiae,  he  could  ponder  at  leisure 
on  the  significance  of  his  purchase.  The  prophet's 
meditations  naturally  shaped  themselves  into  a  prayer ; 
he  laid  his  perplexity  before  Jehovah.^  Possibly,  even 
from  the  court  of  the  guard,  he  could  see  something  of 

*  Verse  15  anticipates  by  way  of  summary  verses  42-44,  and  is 
apparently  ignored  in  verse  25.  It  probably  represents  Jeremiah's 
interpretation  of  God's  command  at  the  time  when  he  wrote  the 
chapter.  In  the  actual  development  of  the  incident,  the  conviction 
of  the  Divine  promise  of  restoration  came  to  him  somewhat  later. 

2  What  was  said  of  verse  15  partly  applies  to  verses  17-23  (with 
the  exception  of  the  introductory  words:  "Ah,  Lord  Jehovah!"). 
These  verses  are  not  dealt  with  in  the  text,  because  they  largely 
anticipate  the  ideas  and  language  of  the  following  Divine  utterance. 
Kautzsch  and  Cornill,  following  Stade,  mark  these  verses  as  a 
later  addition ;  Giesebrecht  is  doubtful.     Cf.  v.  20  ff.  and  xxvii.  5  f. 


3i6  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

the  works  of  the  besiegers ;  and  certainly  men  would 
talk  constantly  of  the  progress  of  the  siege.  Outside 
the  Chaldeans  were  pushing  their  mounds  and  engines 
nearer  and  nearer  to  the  walls,  within  famine  and 
pestilence  decimated  and  enfeebled  the  defenders ;  the 
city  was  virtually  in  the  enemy's  hands.  All  this  was 
in  accordance  with  the  will  of  Jehovah  and  the  mission 
entrusted  to  His  prophet.  *'  What  thou  hast  spoken  of 
is  com^e  to  pass,  and,  behold,  thou  seest  it."  And  yet, 
in  spite  of  all  this,  *'  Thou  hast  said  unto  me,  O  Lord 
Jehovah,  Buy  the  field  for  money  and  take  witnesses — 
and  the  city  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Chaldeans  I " 

Jeremiah  had  already  predicted  the  ruin  of  Babylon 
and  the  return  of  the  captives  at  the  end  of  seventy 
years.^  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  he  did  not  at  first 
understand  the  sign  of  the  purchase  as  referring  to 
restoration  from  the  Captivity.  His  mind,  at  the 
moment,  was  preoccupied  with  the  approaching  cap- 
ture of  Jerusalem ;  apparently  his  first  thought  was 
that  his  prophecies  of  doom  were  to  be  set  aside,  and 
at  the  last  moment  some  wonderful  deliverance  might 
be  wrought  out  for  Zion.  In  the  Book  of  Jonah, 
Nineveh  is  spared  in  spite  of  the  prophet's  uncondi- 
tional and  vehement  declaration  :  "  Yet  forty  days  and 
Nineveh  shall  be  overthrown."  Was  it  possible,  thought 
Jeremiah,  that  after  all  that  had  been  said  and  done, 
buying  and  selling,  building  and  planting,  marrying  and 
giving  in  marriage,  were  to  go  on  as  if  nothing  had 
happened  ?  He  was  bewildered  and  confounded  by  the 
idea  of  such  a  revolution  in  the  Divine  purposes. 

Jehovah  in  His  answer  at  once  repudiates  this  idea. 
He  asserts  His  universal  sovereignty  and  omnipotence  ; 

'  XXV.  12,  xxix.  lo. 


xxxii.]  RESTORATION— I.  THE  SYMBOL  317 

these  are  to  be  manifested,  first  in  judgment  and  then 
in  mercy.  He  declares  afresh  that  all  the  judgments 
predicted  by  Jeremiah  shall  speedily  come  to  pass. 
Then  He  unfolds  His  gracious  purpose  of  redemption 
and  deliverance.  He  will  gather  the  exiles  from  all 
lands  and  bring  them  back  to  Judah,  and  they  shall 
dwell  there  securely.  They  shall  be  His  people  and 
He  will  be  their  God.  Henceforth  He  will  make  an 
everlasting  covenant  with  them,  that  He  will  never 
again  abandon  them  to  misery  and  destruction,  but 
will  always  do  them  good.  By  Divine  grace  they 
shall  be  united  in  purpose  and  action  to  serve  Jehovah ; 
He  Himself  will  put  His  fear  in  their  hearts. 

And  then  returning  to  the  symbol  of  the  purchased 
field,  Jehovah  declares  that  fields  shall  be  bought,  with 
all  the  legal  formalities  usual  in  settled  and  orderly 
societies,  deeds  shall  be  signed,  sealed,  and  dehvered  in 
the  presence  of  witnesses.  This  restored  social  order 
shall  extend  throughout  the  territory  of  the  Southern 
Kingdom,  Benjamin,  the  environs  of  Jerusalem,  the 
cities  of  Judah,  of  the  hill  country,  of  the  Shephelah 
and  the  Negeb.  The  exhaustive  enumeration  partakes 
of  the  legal  character  of  the  purchase  of  Hanameel's 
field. 

Thus  the  symbol  is  expounded :  Israel's  tenure  of 
the  Promised  Land  will  survive  the  Captivity ;  the  Jews 
will  return  to  resume  their  inheritance,  and  will  again 
deal  with  the  old  fields  and  vineyards  and  oliveyards, 
according  to  the  solemn  forms  of  ancient  custom. 

The  familiar  classical  parallel  to  this  incident  is 
found  in  Livy,  xxvi.  11,  where  we  are  told  that  when 
Hannibal  was  encamped  three  miles  from  Rome,  the 
ground  he  occupied  was  sold  in  the  Forum  by  public 
auction,  and  fetched  a  good  price. 


3i8  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 


Both  at  Rome  and  at  Jerusalem  the  sale  of  land 
was  a  symbol  that  the  control  of  the  land  would  remain 
with  or  return  to  its  original  inhabitants.  The  symbol 
recognised  that  access  to  land  is  essential  to  all  industry, 
and  that  whoever  controls  this  access  can  determine 
the  conditions  of  national  life.  This  obvious  and  often 
forgotten  truth  was  constantly  present  to  the  minds  of 
the  inspired  writers  :  to  them  the  Holy  Land  was  almost 
as  sacred  as  the  Chosen  People  ;  its  right  use  was  a 
matter  of  religious  obligation,  and  the  prophets  and 
legislators  always  sought  to  secure  for  every  Israelite 
family  some  rights  in  their  native  soil. 

The  selection  of  a  legal  ceremony  and  the  stress  laid 
upon  its  forms  emphasise  the  truth  that  social  order 
is  the  necessary  basis  of  moraHty  and  religion.  The 
opportunity  to  live  healthily,  honestly,  and  purely  is 
an  antecedent  condition  of  the  spiritual  life.  This 
opportunity  was  denied  to  slaves  in  the  great  heathen 
empires,  just  as  it  is  denied  to  the  children  in  our 
slums.  Both  here  and  more  fully  in  the  sections  we 
shall  deal  with  in  the  following  chapters,  Jeremiah 
shows  that  he  was  chiefly  interested  in  the  restoration 
of  the  Jews  because  they  could  only  fulfil  the  Divine 
purpose  as  a  separate  community  in  Judah. 

Moreover,  to  use  a  modern  term,  he  was  no  anarchist ; 
spiritual  regeneration  might  come  through  material 
ruin,  but  the  prophet  did  not  look  for  salvation  either 
in  anarchy  or  through  anarchy.  While  any  fragment 
of  the  State  held  together,  its  laws  were  to  be  observed  ; 
as  soon  as  the  exiles  were  re-established  in  Judah,  they 
would  resume  the  forms  and  habits  of  an  organised 
community.  The  discipline  of  society,  like  that  of  an 
army,  is  most  necessary  in  times  of  difficulty  and 
danger,  and,  above  all,  in  the  crisis  of  defeat. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

RESTORATION— II.    THE  NEW  ISRAEL 
xxiii.  3-8,  xxiv.  6,  7,  xxx.,  xxxi.,  xxxiii.  ^ 

"  In  those  days  shall  Judah  be  saved,  and  Jerusalem  shall  dwell 
safely:  and  this  is  the  name  whereby  she  shall  be  called." — 
Jer,  xxxiii.  16. 

THE  Divine  utterances  in  chapter  xxxiii.  were  given 
to  Jeremiah  when  he  was  shut  up  in  the  "court 
of  the  guard  "  during  the  last  days  of  the  siege.  It  may, 
however,  have  been  committed  to  writing  at  a  later  date, 
possibly  in  connection  with  chapters  xxx.  and  xxxi., 
when  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  was  already  past. 
It  is  in  accordance  with  all  analogy  that  the  final 
record  of  a  "  word  of  Jehovah "  should  include  any 
further  light  which  had  come  to  the  prophet  through 
his  inspired  meditations  on  the  original  message. 
Chapters  xxx.,  xxxi.,  and  xxxiii.  mostly  expound  and 
enforce  leading  ideas  contained  in  xxxii.  37-44  and  in 

'  Vatke  and  Stade  reject  chapters  xxx.,  xxxi.,  xxxiii.,  but  they  are 
accepted  by  Driver,  Cornill,  Kautzsch  (for  the  most  part).  Giese- 
brecht  assigns  them  partly  to  Baruch  and  partly  to  a  later  editor.  It  is 
on  this  account  that  the  full  exposition  of  certain  points  in  xxxii.  and 
elsewhere  has  been  reserved  for  the  present  chapter.  Moreover,  if 
the  cardinal  ideas  come  from  Jeremiah,  we  need  not  be  over-anxious 
to  decide  whether  the  expansion,  illustration,  and  enforcing  of  them 
is  due  to  the  prophet  himself,  or  to  his  disciple  Baruch,  or  to  some 
other  editor.  The  question  is  somewhat  parallel  to  that  relating  to 
the  discourses  of  our  Lord  in  the  Fourth  Gospel. 

319 


320  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

earlier  utterances  of  Jeremiah.  They  have  much  in 
common  with  II.  Isaiah.  The  ruin  of  Judah  and  the 
captivity  of  the  people  were  accomplished  facts  to  both 
writers,  and  they  were  both  looking  forward  to  the 
return  of  the  exiles  and  the  restoration  of  the  kingdom 
of  Jehovah.  We  shall  have  occasion  to  notice  indi- 
vidual points  of  resemblance  later  on. 

In  XXX.  2  Jeremiah  is  commanded  to  write  in  a 
book  all  that  Jehovah  has  spoken  to  him ;  and  accord- 
ing to  the  present  context  the  *'  all,"  in  this  case,  refers 
merely  to  the  following  four  chapters.  These  prophecies 
of  restoration  would  be  specially  precious  to  the  exiles ; 
and  now  that  the  Jews  were  scattered  through  many 
distant  lands,  they  could  only  be  transmitted  and  pre- 
served in  writing.  After  the  command  "  to  write  in  a 
book  "  there  follows,  by  way  of  title,  a  repetition  of  the 
statement  that  Jehovah  would  bring  back  His  people 
to  their  fatherland.  Here,  in  the  very  forefront  of  the 
Book  of  Promise,  Israel  and  Judah  are  named  as  being 
recalled  together  from  exile.  As  we  read  twice  ^  else- 
where in  Jeremiah,  the  promised  deliverance  from 
Assyria  and  Babylon  was  to  surpass  all  earlier  mani- 
festations of  the  Divine  power  and  mercy.  The  Exodus 
would  not  be  named  in  the  same  breath  with  it : 
^*  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  Jehovah,  that  it  shall 
no  more  be  said.  As  Jehovah  liveth,  that  brought  up 
the  Israelites  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ;  but.  As 
Jehovah  liveth,  that  brought  up  the  Israelites  from 
the  land  of  the  north,  and  from  all  the  countries 
whither  He  had  driven  them."  This  prediction  has 
waited  for  fulfilment  to  our  own  times :  hitherto  the 
Exodus  has  occupied  men's  minds  much  more  than  the 

'  xvi.  14,  15,  xxiii.  7,  8. 


XXX.  if.]      RESTORATION— II.  THE  NEW  ISRAEL  321 

Return ;  we  are  now  coming  to  estimate  the  supreme 
religious  importance  of  the  latter  event. 

Elsewhere  again  Jeremiah  connects  his  promise  with 
the  clause  in  his  original  commission  ^'  to  build  and  to 
plant "  :  ^  '*  I  will  set  My  eyes  upon  them  (the  captives) 
for  good,  and  I  will  bring  them  again  to  this  land ; 
and  I  will  build  them.,  and  not  pull  them  down  ;  and  I 
will  plant  them,  and  not  pluck  them  up."^  As  in 
xxxii.  28-35,  the  picture  of  restoration  is  rendered 
more  vivid  by  contrast  with  Judah's  present  state  of 
wretchedness ;  the  marvellousness  of  Jehovah's  mercy 
is  made  apparent  by  reminding  Israel  of  the  multitude 
of  its  iniquities.  The  agony  of  Jacob  is  like  that  of 
a  woman  in  travail.  But  travail  shall  be  followed  by 
deHverance  and  triumph.  In  the  second  Psalm  the 
subject  nations  took  counsel  against  Jehovah  and 
against  His  Anointed  : — 

"Let  us  break  their  bands  asunder, 
And  cast  away  their  cords  from  us"; 

but  now  this  is  the  counsel  of  Jehovah  concerning  His 
people  and  their  Babylonian  conqueror : — 

"  I  will  break  his  yoke  from  off  thy  neck, 
And  break  thy  bands  asunder."^ 

Judah's  lovers,  her  foreign  allies,  Assyria,  Babylon, 
Egypt,  and  all  the  other  states  with  whom  she  had 
intrigued,  had  betrayed  her ;  they  had  cruelly  chastised 
her,  so  that  her  wounds  were  grievous  and  her  bruises 
incurable.  She  was  left  without  a  champion  to  plead 
her  cause,  without  a  friend  to  bind  up  her  wounds, 
without  balm  to  allay  the  pain  of  her  bruises.  *'  Because 
thy  sins  were  increased,  I  have  done  these  things  unto 

»  i.  10.  "^  xxiv.  6.  ^  XXX.  5-8. 

21 


322  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

thee,  saith  Jehovah."  Jerusalem  was  an  outcast,  of 
whom  men  said  contemptuously  :  *'  This  is  Zion,  whom 
no  man  seeketh  after."  ^  But  man's  extremity  was 
God's  opportunity;  because  Judah  was  helpless  and 
despised,  therefore  Jehovah  said,  ''  I  will  restore  health 
unto  thee,  and  I  will  heal  thee  of  thy  wounds."  ^ 

While  Jeremiah  was  still  watching  from  his  prison 
the  progress  of  the  siege,  he  had  seen  the  houses  and 
palaces  beyond  the  walls  destroyed  by  the  Chaldeans 
to  be  used  for  their  mounds ;  and  had  known  that 
every  sally  of  the  besieged  was  but  another  op- 
portunity for  the  enemy  to  satiate  themselves  with 
slaughter,  as  they  executed  Jehovah's  judgments  upon 
the  guilty  city.  Even  at  this  extremity  He  announced 
solemnly  and  emphatically  the  restoration  and  pardon 
of  His  people.  "  Thus  saith  Jehovah,  who  established 
the  earth,  when  He  made  and  fashioned  it — Jehovah  is 
His  name :  Call  upon  Me,  and  I  will  answer  thee,  and 
will  show  thee  great  mysteries,  which  thou  knowest 
not."  3 


•  XXX.  12-17. 

^  The  two  verses  xxx.  10,  ii,  present  some  difficulty  here.  Accord- 
ing to  Kautzsch,  and  of  course  Giesebrecht,  they  are  a  later  addition. 
The  ideas  can  mostly  be  paralleled  elsewhere  in  Jeremiah.  Verse  1 1  b, 
"I  will  correct  thee  with  judgment,  and 'will  in  no  wise  leave  thee 
unpunished,"  seems  inconsistent  with  the  context,  which  represents 
the  punishment  as  actually  inflicted.  Still,  the  verses  might  be  a 
genuine  fragment  misplaced.  Driver  (Iniroduch'on,  246)  says  :  "The 
title  of  honour  •  My  servant '  .  .  .  appears  to  have  formed  the  basis 
upon  which  II.  Isaiah  constructs  his  great  conception  of  Jehovah's 
ideal  Servant." 

'  xxxiii.  2,  3 ;  "  earth "  is  inserted  with  the  LXX.  Many  regard 
these  verses  as  a  later  addition,  based  on  II.  Isaiah  :  of.  Isa.  xlviii.  6. 
The  phrase  "Jehovah  is  His  name"  and  the  terms  "make"  and 
"  fashion  "  are  specially  common  in  II.  Isaiah,  xxxiii.  so  largely  repeats 
the  ideas  of  xxx.  that  it  is  most  convenient  to  deal  with  them  together. 


XXX.  ff.]      RESTORATION— II.   THE  NEW  ISRAEL  323 

^'  I  will  bring  to  this  city  healing  and  cure,  and 
will  cause  them  to  know  all  the  fulness  of  steadfast 
peace.  ...  I  will  cleanse  them  from  all  their  iniquities, 
and  will  pardon  all  their  iniquities,  whereby  they  have 
sinned  and  transgressed  against  Me."^ 

The  healing  of  Zion  naturally  involved  the  punish- 
ment of  her  cruel  and  treacherous  lovers.^  The  Return, 
like  other  revolutions,  was  not  wrought  by  rose-water ; 
the  yokes  were  broken  and  the  bands  rent  asunder  by 
main  force.  Jehovah  would  make  a  full  end  of  all 
the  nations  whither  He  had  scattered  them.  Their 
devourers  should  be  devoured,  all  their  adversaries 
should  go  into  captivity,  those  who  had  spoiled  and 
preyed  upon  them  should  become  a  spoil  and  a  prey. 
Jeremiah  had  been  commissioned  from  the  beginning 
to  pull  down  foreign  nations  and  kingdoms  as  well  as 
his  native  Judah.^  Judah  was  only  one  of  Israel's 
evil  neighbours  who  were  to  be  plucked  up  out  of 
their  land.*  And  at  the  Return,  as  at  the  Exodus,  the 
waves  at  one  and  the  same  time  opened  a  path  of 
safety  for  Israel  and  overwhelmed  her  oppressors. 

Israel,  pardoned  and  restored,  would  again  be 
governed  by  legitimate  kings  of  the  House  of  David. 
In  the  dying  days  of  the  monarchy  Israel  and  Judah 
had  received  their  rulers  from  the  hands  of  foreigners. 
Menahem  and  Hoshea  bought  the  confirmation  of  their 
usurped  authority  from  Assyria.     Jehoiakim  was  ap- 


*  xxxiii.  6-8,  biightly  paraphrased  and  condensed. 

^  XXX.  8,  II,  16,  20.  Cf.  also  the  chapters  on  the  prophecies 
concerning  foreign  nations. 

3  i.  10. 

"*  xii.  14.  XXX.  23,  24,  is  apparently  a  gloss,  added  as  a  suitable 
illustration  of  this  chapter,  from  xxiii.  19,  20,  which  are  almost 
identical  with  these  two  verses. 


324  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

pointed  by  Pharaoh  Necho,  and  Zedekiah  by  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, We  cannot  doubt  that  the  kings  of 
Egypt  and  Babylon  were  also  careful  to  surround  their 
nominees  with  ministers  who  were  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  their  suzerains.  But  now  "  their  nobles 
were  to  be  of  themselves,  and  their  ruler  was  to  pro- 
ceed out  of  their  midst,"  ^  i.e.  nobles  and  rulers  were 
to  hold  their  offices  according  to  national  custom  and 
tradition. 

Jeremiah  was  fond  of  speaking  of  the  leaders  of 
Judah  as  shepherds.  We  have  had  occasion  already  ^ 
to  consider  his  controversy  with  the  *'  shepherds  "  of 
his  own  time.  In  his  picture  of  the  New  Israel  he 
uses  the  same  figure.  In  denouncing  the  evil  shep- 
herds, he  predicts  that,  when  the  remnant  of  Jehovah's 
flock  is  brought  again  to  their  folds,  He  will  set  up 
shepherds  over  them  which  shall  feed  them,^  shepherds 
according  to  Jehovah's  own  heart,  who  should  feed 
them  with  knowledge  and  understanding.* 

Over  them  Jehovah  would  establish  as  Chief  Shep- 
herd a  Prince  of  the  House  of  David.  Isaiah  had 
already  included  in  his  picture  of  Messianic  times  the 
fertility  of  Palestine  ;  its  vegetation/  by  the  blessing  of 
Jehovah,  should  be  beautiful  and  glorious  :  he  had  also 
described  the  Messianic  King  as  a  fruitful  Branch  ®  out 
of  the  root  of  Jesse.  Jeremiah  takes  the  idea  of  the 
latter  passage,  but  uses  the  language  of  the  former. 
For  him  the  King  of  the  New  Israel  is,  as  it  were,  a 
Growth  (9emah)  out  of  the  sacred  soil,  or  perhaps  more 
definitely  from  the  roots  of  the  House  of  David,  that 

'  XXX.  21.  '  xxiii.  3,  4. 

2  Cf.  Chap.  VIII.  "  iii.  15. 

*  Isa.  iv.  2,  femah ;  A.V.  and  R.V.  Branch,  R.V.  margin  Shoot  or 
Bud.  *  Isa.  xi.  i. 


XXX.  ff.]      RESTORATION-II.  THE  NEW  ISRAEL  325 

ancient  tree  whose  trunk  had  been  hewn  down  and 
burnt.  Both  the  Growth  (<;emah)  and  the  Branch 
(neger)  had  the  same  vital  connection  with  the  soil  of 
Palestine  and  the  root  of  David.  Our  English  versions 
exercised  a  wise  discretion  when  they  sacrificed  literal 
accuracy  and  indicated  the  identity  of  idea  by  trans- 
lating both  ''  9emah  "  and  '*  ne9er  "  by  **  Branch." 

"  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  Jehovah,  that  I  will 
raise  up  unto  David  a  righteous  Branch ;  and  He  shall 
be  a  wise  and  prudent  King,  and  He  shall  execute 
justice  and  maintain  the  right.  In  His  days  Judah 
shall  be  saved  and  Israel  shall  dwell  securely,  and  His 
name  shall  be  Jehovah  *  (J^idqenu,'  Jehovah  is  our 
righteousness."  ^  Jehovah  (^idqenu  might  very  well 
be  the  personal  name  of  a  Jewish  king,  though  the 
form  would  be  unusual ;  but  what  is  chiefly  in- 
tended is  that  His  character  shall  be  such  as  the 
"name"  describes.  The  ''name"  is  a  brief  and 
pointed  censure  upon  a  king  whose  character  was  the 
opposite  of  that  described  in  these  verses,  yet  who 
bore  a  name  of  almost  identical  meaning — Zedekiah, 
Jehovah  is  my  righteousness.  The  name  of  the  last 
reigning  Prince  of  the  House  of  David  had  been  a 
standing  condemnation  of  his  unworthy  life,  but  the 
King  of  the  New  Israel,  Jehovah's  true  Messiah,  would 
realise  in  His  administration  all  that  such  a  name  pro- 
mised. Sovereigns  delight  to  accumulate  sonorous 
epithets  in  their  official  designations — Highness,  High 
and  Mighty,  Majesty,  Serene,  Gracious.  The  glaring 
contrast  between  character  and  titles  often  only  serves 
to  advertise  the  worthlessness  of  those  who  are 
labelled  with  such  epithets  :  the  Majesty  of  James  I., 

'  XXV.  5,  6;  repeated  in  xxxiii.  15,  16,  with  slight  variations. 


326  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

the  Graciousness  of  Richard  III.  Yet  these  titles  point 
to  a  standard  of  true  royalty,  whether  the  sovereign 
be  an  individual  or  a  class  or  the  people ;  they  describe 
that  Divine  Sovereignty  which  will  be  realised  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God/ 

The  material  prosperity  of  the  restored  community  is . 
set  forth  with  wealth  of  glowing  imagery.  Cities  and 
palaces  are  to  be  rebuilt  on  their  former  sites  with  more 
than  their  ancient  splendour.  "  Out  of  them  shall  pro- 
ceed thanksgiving,  and  the  voice  of  them  that  make 
merry  :  and  I  will  multiply  them,  and  they  shall  not 
be  few  ;  I  will  also  glorify  them,  and  they  shall  not  be 
small.  And  the  children  of  Jacob  shall  be  as  of  old, 
and  their  assembly  shall  be  estabhshed  before  Me."  ^ 
The  figure  often  used  of  the  utter  desolation  of  the 
deserted  country  is  now  used  to  illustrate  its  complete 
restoration  :  ''  Yet  again  there  shall  be  heard  in  this 
place  .  .  .  the  voice  of  joy  and  the  voice  of  gladness, 
the  voice  of  the  bridegroom  and  the  voice  of  the  bride." 
Throughout  all  the  land  ''  which  is  waste,  without  man 
and  without  beast,  and  in  all  the  cities  thereof,"  shep- 
herds shall  dwell  and  pasture  and  fold  their  flocks  ;  and 
in  the  cities  of  all  the  districts  of  the  Southern  Kingdom 
(enumerated  as  exhaustively  as  in  xxxii.  44)  shall  the 


'  In  xxxiii.  14-26  the  permanence  of  the  Davidic  dynasty,  the 
Levitical  priests,  and  the  people  of  Israel  is  solemnly  assured  by  a 
Divine  promise.  These  verses  are  not  found  in  the  LXX.,  and  are 
considered  by  many  to  be  a  later  addition  ;  see  Kautzsch,  Giesebrecht, 
Cheyne,  etc.  They  are  mostly  of  a  secondary  character — 15,  16,  = 
xxiii.  5,  6;  here  Jerusalem  and  not  its  king  is  called  Jehovah  Cidqenu, 
possibly  because  the  addition  was  made  when  there  was  no  visible 
prospect  of  the  restoration  of  the  Davidic  dynasty.  Verse  17  is  based 
on  the  original  promise  in  2  Sam.  vii.  14-16,  and  is  equivalent  to 
Jer.  xxii.  4,  30.  The  form  and  substance  of  the  Divine  promise 
imitate  xxxi.  35-37.  '  xxx.  18-20. 


XXX.  ff.]      RESTORATION— II.  THE  NEW  ISRAEL  327 

flocks  again  pass  under  the  shepherd's  hands  to  be 
told.i 

Jehovah's  own  pecuHar  flock,  His  Chosen  People, 
shall  be  fruitful  and  multiply  according  to  the  primaeval 
blessing ;  under  their  new  shepherds  they  shall  no 
more  fear  nor  be  dismayed,  neither  shall  any  be 
lacking.^  Jeremiah  recurs  again  and  again  to  the 
quiet,  the  restfulness,  the  freedom  from  fear  and  dismay 
of  the  restored  Israel.  In  this,  as  in  all  else,  the  New 
Dispensation  was  to  be  an  entire  contrast  to  those  long 
weary  years  of  alternate  suspense  and  panic,  when 
men's  hearts  were  shaken  by  the  sound  of  the  trumpet 
and  the  alarm  of  war.^  Israel  is  to  dwell  securely  at 
rest  from  fear  of  harm.*  When  Jacob  returns,  he 
"  shall  be  quiet  and  at  ease,  and  none  shall  make  him 
afraid. "°  Egyptian,  Assyrian,  and  Chaldean  shall  all 
cease  from  troubling  ;  the  memory  of  past  misery  shall 
become  dim  and  shadowy. 

The  finest  expansion  of  this  idea  is  a  passage  which 
always  fills  the  soul  with  a  sense  of  utter  rest.  "  He 
shall  dwell  on  high :  his  refuge  shall  be  the  in- 
accessible rocks  :  his  bread  shall  be  given  him ;  his 
waters  shalF  be  sure.  Thine  eyes  shall  see  the  king 
in  his  beauty  :  they  shall  behold  a  far-stretching  land. 
Thine  heart  shall  muse  on  the  terror  :  where  is  he  that 
counted,  where  is  he  that  weighed  the  tribute  ?  where 
is  he  that  counted  the  towers  ?  Thou  shalt  not  see 
the  fierce  people,  a  people  of  a  deep  speech  that  thou 
canst  not  perceive  ;  of  a  strange  tongue  that  thou  canst 
not  understand.  Look  upon  Zion,  the  city  of  our 
solemnities :  thine    eyes    shall    see   Jerusalem    a  quiet 

•  xxxiii.  10-13.  *  iv.  19.  '  XXX.  10. 

-  xxiii.  3,  4.  *  xxiii.  6. 


328  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

habitation,  a  tent  that  shall  not  be  removed,  the  stakes 
whereof  shall  never  be  plucked  up,  neither  shall  any  of 
the  cords  thereof  be  broken.  There  Jehovah  will  be 
with  us  in  majesty,  a  place  of  broad  rivers  and  streams  ; 
wherein  shall  go  no  galley  with  oars,  neither  shall 
gallant  ship  pass  thereby."  ^ 

For  Jeremiah  too  the  presence  of  Jehovah  in  majesty 
was  the  only  possible  guarantee  of  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  Israel.  The  voices  of  joy  and  gladness 
in  the  New  Jerusalem  were  not  only  those  of  bride  and 
bridegroom,  but  also  of  those  that  said,  '*  Give  thanks 
to  Jehovah  Sabaoth,  for  Jehovah  is  good,  for  His 
mercy  endureth  for  ever,"  and  of  those  that  "came 
to  offer  sacrifices  of  thanksgiving  in  the  house  of 
Jehovah."^  This  new  David,  as  the  Messianic  King 
is  called,^  is  to  have  the  priestly  right  of  immediate 
access  to  God  :  "  I  will  cause  Him  to  draw  near,  and  He 
shall  approach  unto  Me  :  for  else  who  would  risk  his 
life  by  daring  to  approach  Me?"*  Israel  is  liberated 
from  foreign  conquerors  to  serve  Jehovah  their  God 
and  David  their  King ;  and  the  Lord  Himself  rejoices 
in  His  restored  and  ransomed  people. 

The  city  that  was  once  a  desolation,  an  astonishment, 
a  hissing,  and  a  curse  among  all  nations  shall  now  be 
to  Jehovah  *'  a  name  of  joy,  a  praise  and  a  glory, 
before  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  which  shall  hear  all 
the  good  that  I  do  unto  them,  and  shall  tremble  with 
fear  for  all  the  good  and  all  the  peace  that  I  procure 
unto  it."  ^ 

^  Isa.  xxxiii.  16-21  :  cf.  xxxii.  15-18. 

^  xxxiii.  II.  ^  XXX.  21,  as  Kautzsch. 

'  XXX.  9.  *  xxxiii.  9. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

RESTORATION— III.  REUNION 


"  I  will  sow  the  house  of  Israel  and  the  house  of  Judah  with  the 
seed  of  man,  and  with  the  seed  of  beast." — Jer.  xxxi.  27. 

IN  his  prophecies  of  restoration,  Jeremiah  continually 
couples  together  Judah  and  Israel.^  Israel,  it  is 
true,  often  stands  for  the  whole  elect  nation,  and  is 
so  used  by  Jeremiah.  After  the  disappearance  of  the 
Ten  Tribes,  the  Jewish  community  is  spoken  of  as 
Israel.  But  Israel,  in  contrast  to  Judah,  will  naturally 
mean  the  Northern  Kingdom  or  its  exiled  inhabitants. 
In  this  chapter  Jeremiah  clearly  refers  to  this  Israel ; 
he  speaks  of  it  under  its  distinctive  title  of  Ephraim, 
and  promises  that  vineyards  shall .  again  be  planted 
on  the  mountains  of  Samaria.  Jehovah  had  declared 
that  He  would  cast  Judah  out  of  His  sight,  as  He  had 
cast  out  the  whole  seed  of  Ephraim.^  In  the  days  to 
come  Jehovah  would  make  His  new  covenant  with 
the  House  of  Israel,  as  well  as  with  the  House  of 
Judah.  Amos,^  who  was  sent  to  declare  the  captivity 
of  Israel,  also  prophesied  its  return ;  and  similar  pro- 
mises are  found  in  Micah  and  Isaiah.*  But,  in  his 
attitude   towards  Ephraim,   Jeremiah,  as   in  so   much 

^  xxxiii.,  7,  etc.  ^  Amos  ix.  14. 

"  vii.  15.  *  Micah  ii.  12;  Isa.  xi.  10-16. 

329 


330  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

else,  is  a  disciple  of  Hosea.  Both  prophets  have  the 
same  tender,  affectionate  interest  in  this  wayward  child 
of  God.  Hosea  mourns  over  Ephraim's  sin  and  punish- 
ment :  *'  How  shall  I  give  thee  up,  Ephraim  ?  how 
shall  I  dehver  thee  to  thine  enemies,  O  Israel  ?  how 
shall  I  make  thee  as  Admah  ?  how  shall  I  set  thee 
as  Zeboim  ? "  ^  Jeremiah  exults  in  the  glory  of 
Ephraim's  restoration.  Hosea  barely  attains  to  the 
hope  that  Israel  will  return  from  captivity,  or  possibly 
that  its  doom  ma}^  yet  be  averted.  ''  Mine  heart 
is  turned  within  Me,  My  compassions  are  kindled 
together.  I  will  not  execute  the  fierceness  of  Mine 
anger,  I  will  not  again  any  more  destroy  Ephraim : 
for  I  am  God,  and  not  man ;  the  Holy  One  of  Israel 
in  the  midst  of  thee."  ^  But  Jehovah  rather  longs  to 
pardon  than  finds  any  sign  of  the  repentance  that 
makes  pardon  possible ;  and  similarly  the  promise — 
^'  I  will  be  as  the  dew  unto  Israel :  he  shall  blossom 
as  the  lily,  and  cast  forth  his  roots  as  Lebanon.  His 
branches  shall  spread,  and  his  beauty  shall  be  as  the 
olive  tree,  and  his  smell  as  Lebanon" — is  conditioned 
upon  the  very  doubtful  response  to  the  appeal  '^  O 
Israel,  return  unto  Jehovah  thy  God."  ^  But  Jeremiah's 
confidence  in  the  glorious  future  of  Ephraim  is  dimmed 
by  no  shade  of  misgiving.  "  They  shall  be  My  people, 
and  I  will  be  their  God,"  is  the  refrain  of  Jeremiah's 
prophecies  of  restoration  ;  this  chapter  opens  with  a 
special  modification  of  the  formula,  which  emphatically 
and  expressly  includes  both  Ephraim  and  Judah — "I 
will  be  the  God  of  all  the  clans  of  Israel,  and  they 
shall  be  My  people." 

The  Assyrian  and  Chaldean  captivities  carried  men's 

'  Hosea  xi.  8.  -  Hosea  xi.  9.  *  Hosea  xiv. 


xxxi.]  RESTORATION— in.  REUNION  33 1 

thoughts  back  to  the  bondage  in  Egypt ;  and  the 
experiences  of  the  Exodus  provided  phrases  and  figures 
to  describe  the  expected  Return.  The  judges  had 
delivered  individual  tribes  or  groups  of  tribes. 
Jeroboam  II.  had  been  the  saviour  of  Samaria ;  and 
the  overthrow  of  Sennacherib  had  rescued  Jerusalem. 
But  the  Exodus  stood  out  from  all  later  deliverances 
as  the  birth  of  the  whole  people.  Hence  the  prophets 
often  speak  of  the  Return  as  a  New  Exodus. 

This  prophecy  takes  the  form  of  a  dialogue  between 
Jehovah  and  the  Virgin  of  Israel,  i.e.  the  nation  per- 
sonified. Jehovah  announces  that  the  Israelite  exiles, 
the  remnant  left  by  the  sword  of  Shalmaneser  and 
Sargon,  were  to  be  more  highly  favoured  than  the 
fugitives  from  the  sword  of  Pharaoh,  of  whom  Jehovah 
sware  in  His  wrath  "  that  they  should  not  enter  into  My 
rest ;  whose  carcases  fell  in  the  wilderness."  "  A  people 
that  hath  survived  the  sword  hath  found  favour  in  the 
wilderness;  Israel  hath  entered  into  his  rest,"^ — hath 
found  favour — hath  entered — because  Jehovah  regards 
His  purpose  as  already  accomplished. 

Jehovah  speaks  from  His  ancient  dwelling-place  in 
Jerusalem,  and,  when  the  Virgin  of  Israel  hears  Him  in 
her  distant  exile,  she  answers  : — 

'•  From  afar  hath  Jehovah  appeared  unto  me  (saying), 
With  My  ancient  love  do  I  love  thee ; 
Therefore  My  lovingkindness  is  enduring  toward  thee.'"^ 

His    love    is    as  old    as    the   Exodus,    His    mercy   has 

'  So  Giesebrecht,  reading  with  Jerome  and  Targum  Vmargoo  for 
the  obscure  and  obviously  corrupt  Vhargio.  The  other  versions  vary 
widel}'  in  their  readings. 

*  R.V.  "  with  lovingkindness  have  I  drawn  thee,"  R.V.  margin 
"  have  I  continued  lovingkindness  unto  thee  "  ;  the  word  for  '*  drawn  " 
occurs  also  in  Hosea  xi.  4,  "I  drew  them  .  .  .  with  bands  of  love." 


332  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

endured  all  through  the  long,  weary  ages  of  Israel's 
sin  and  suffering. 

Then  Jehovah  replies  : — 

"Again  will  I  build  thee,   and   thou  shalt  be  built,  O  Virgin  of 

Israel; 
Again  shalt  thou  take  thy  tabrets,  and  go  forth  in  the  dances  of 

them  that  make  merry ; 
Again  shalt  thou  plant  vineyards  on  the  mountains  of  Samaria, 

while  they  that  plant  shall  enjoy  the  fruit." 

This  contrasts  with  the  times  of  invasion  when  the 
vintage  was  destroyed  or  carried  off  by  the  enemy. 
Then  follows  the  Divine  purpose,  the  crowning  mercy 
of  Israel's  renewed  prosperity  : — 

"  For  the  day  cometh  when  the  vintagers '  shall  cry  in  the  hill- 
country  of  Ephraim, 
Arise,  let  us  go  up  to  Zion,  to  Jehovah  our  God." 

Israel  will  no  longer  keep  her  vintage  feasts  in  schism 
at  Samaria  and  Bethel  and  her  countless  high  places, 
but  will  join  with  Judah  in  the  worship  of  the  Temple, 
which  Josiah's  covenant  had  accepted  as  the  one 
sanctuary  of  Jehovah. 

The  exultant  strain  continues  stanza  after  stanza  : — 

"  Thus  saith  Jehovah  : 
Exult  joyously  for  Jacob,  and  shout  for  the  chief  of  the  nations  ; 
Make   your  praises   heard,  and  say,   Jehovah   hath   saved   His 
people,^  even  the  remnant  of  Israel. 

'  So  Giesebrecht's  conjecture  of  bocerim  (vintages),  for  the  nocerim 
(watchmen,  R.V.).  The  latter  is  usually  explained  of  the  watcher 
who  looked  for  the  appearance  of  the  new  moon,  in  order  to  deter- 
mine the  time  of  the  feasts.  The  practice  is  stated  on  negative 
grounds  to  be  post-exilic,  but  seems  likely  to  be  ancient.  On  the 
other  hand  "  vintagers "  seems  a  natural  sequel  to  the  preceding 
clauses. 

'  According  to  the  reading  of  the  LXX.  and  the  Targum,  the 
Hebrew  Text  has  (as  R.V.)  "  O  Jehovah,  save  Thy  people." 


xxxi.]  RESTORATION— III.  REUNION 


333 


Behold,  I  bring  them  from  the  land  of  the  north,  and  gather 
them  from  the  uttermost  ends  of  the  earth  ; 

Among  them  blind  and  lame,  pregnant  women  and  women  in 
travail  together." 

None  are  left  behind,  not  even  those  least  fit  for  the 
journey. 

"  A  great  company  shall  return  hither. 
They  shall  come  with  weeping,  and  with  supplications  will  I  lead 
them." 

Of  old,  weeping  and  supplication  had  been  heard  upon 
the  heights  of  Israel  because  of  her  waywardness 
and  apostasy ;  ^  but  now  the  returning  exiles  offer 
prayers  and  thanksgiving  mingled  with  tears,  weeping 
partly  for  joy,  partly  for  pathetic  memories. 

"  I  will  bring  them  to  streams  of  water,  by  a  plain  path,  wherein 
they  cannot  stumble : 
For  I  am  become  once  more  a  father  to  Israel,  and  Ephraim  is 
My  first-born  son." 

Of  the  two  Israelite  states,  Ephraim,  the  Northern 
Kingdom,  had  long  been  superior  in  power,  wealth,  and 
religion.  Judah  was  often  little  more  than  a  vassal  of 
Samaria,  and  owed  her  prosperity  and  even  her  exist- 
ence to  the  barrier  which  Samaria  interposed  between 
Jerusalem  and  invaders  from  Assyria  or  Damascus. 
Until  the  latter  days  of  Samaria,  Judah  had  no  pro- 
phets that  could  compare  with  Elijah  and  Elisha.  The 
Jewish  prophet  is  tenacious  of  the  rights  of  Zion,  but 
he  does  not  base  any  claim  for  the  ascendency  of  Judah 
on  the  geographical  position  of  the  Temple ;  he  does 
not  even  mention  the  sacerdotal  tribe  of  Levi.  Jew 
and  priest  as  he  was,  he  acknowledges  the  political 
and  religious   hegemony  of  Ephraim.     The  fact   is  a 

*  iii.  21. 


334  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

striking  illustration  of  the  stress  laid  by  the  prophets 
on  the  unity  of  Israel,  to  which  all  sectional  interests 
were  to  be  sacrificed.  If  Ephraim  was  required  to  for- 
sake his  ancient  shrines,  Jeremiah  was  equally  ready  to 
forego  any  pride  of  tribe  or  caste.  Did  we,  in  all  our 
different  Churches,  possess  the  same  generous  spirit, 
Christian  reunion  would  no  longer  be  a  vain  and 
distant  dream.     But,  passing  on  to  the  next  stanza, — 

"Hear  the  word  of  Jehovah,  O  ye  nations,  and  make  it  known  in 

the  distant  islands. 
Say,  He  that   scattered   Israel  doth  gather  him,   and   watcheth 

over  him  as  a  shepherd  over  his  flock. 
For  Jehovah  hath  ransomed  Jacob  and  redeemed  him  from  the 

hand  of  him  that  was  too  strong  for  him. 
They  shall  come  and  sing  for  joy  in  the  height  of  Zion  ; 
They  shall  come  in  streams  to  the  bounty  of  Jehovah,  for  corn 

and  new  wine  and  oil  and  lambs  and  calves." 

Jeremiah  does  not  dwell,  in  any  grasping  sacerdotal 
spirit,  on  the  contributions  which  these  reconciled 
schismatics  would  pay  to  the  Temple  revenues,  but 
rather  delights  to  make  mention  of  their  share  in  the 
common  blessings  of  God's  obedient  children. 

"They  shall  be  like  a  well-watered  garden  ;  they  shall  no  more  be 

faint  and  weary  : 
Then  shall  they  rejoice — the  damsels  in  the  dance — the  young 

men  and  the  old  together. 
I  will  turn  their  mourning  into  gladness,  and  will  comfort  them, 

and  will  bring  joy  out  of  their  wretchedness. 
I  will  fill  the  priests  with  plenty,  and  My  people  shall  be  satisfied 

with  M^'^  bounty — 
It  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah." 

It  is  not  quite  clear  how  far,  in  this  chapter,  Israel  is 
to  be  understood  exclusively  of  Ephraim.  If  the  fore- 
going stanza  is,  as  it  seems,  perfectly  general,  the 
priests  are  simply  those  of  the  restored  community, 
ministering   at   the   Temple ;    but   if  the   reference   is 


xxxi.]  RESTORATION— IIL  REUNION  335 

specially  to  Ephraim,  the  priests  belong  to  families 
involved  in  the  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes,  and  we  have 
further  evidence  of  the  catholic  spirit  of  the  Jewish 
prophet. 

Another  stanza  : — 

"Thus  saith  Jehovah: 
A  voice  is  heard    in   Ramah,   lamentation    and    bitter  weeping, 

Rachel  w^eeping  for  her  children. 
She  refuseth  to  be  comforted  for  her  children,  for  they  are  not." 

Rachel,  as  the  mother  of  Benjamin  and  Joseph,  claimed 
an  interest  in  both  the  Israelite  kingdoms.  Jeremiah 
shows  special  concern  for  Benjamin,  in  whose  territory 
his  native  Anathoth  was  situated.-^ 

''Her  children"  would  be  chiefly  the  Ephraimites 
and  Manassites,  who  formed  the  bulk  of  the  Northern 
Kingdom;  but  the  phrase  was  doubtless  intended  to 
include  other  Jews,  that  Rachel  might  be  a  symbol  of 
national  unity. 

The  connection  of  Rachel  with  Ramah  is  not  obvious  ; 
there  is  no  precedent  for  it.  Possibly  Ramah  is  not 
intended  for  a  proper  name,  and  we  might  translate  "  A 
voice  is  heard  upon  the  heights."  In  Gen.  xxxv.  19, 
Rachel's  grave  is  placed  between  Bethel  and  Ephrath,^ 
and  in  i  Sam.  x.  2,  in  the  border  of  Benjamin  at 
Zelzah ;  only  here  has  Rachel  anything  to  do  with 
Ramah.  The  name,  however,  in  its  various  forms,  was 
not  uncommon.  Ramah,  to  the  north  of  Jerusalem, 
seems  to  have  been  a  frontier  town,  and  debatable 
territory^  between  the  two  kingdoms;  and  Rachel's 
appearance  there  might  symbolise  her  relation  to  both. 

*  Isaiah  does  not  mention  Benjamin. 

^  "Which  is  Bethlehem,"  in  Genesis,  is  probably  a  later  explana- 
tory addition;  and  the  explanation  is  not  necessarily  a  mistake. 
Cf.  Matt.  ii.  18.  M  Kings  xv.  17. 


336  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


This  Ramah  was  also  a  slave  depot  for  the  Chaldeans  ^ 
after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  and  Rachel  might  well 
revisit  the  glimpses  of  the  moon  at  a  spot  where  her 
descendants  had  drunk  the  first  bitter  draught  of  the 
cup  of  exile.  In  any  case,  the  lines  are  a  fresh  appeal 
to  the  spirit  of  national  unity.  The  prophet  seems  to 
say  :  "  Children  of  the  same  mother,  sharers  in  the 
same  fate,  whether  of  ruin  or  restoration,  remember 
the  ties  that  bind  you  and  forget  your  ancient  feuds." 
Rachel,  wailing  in  ghostly  fashion,  was  yet  a  name  to 
conjure  with,  and  the  prophet  hoped  that  her  symbolic 
tears  could  water  the  renewed  growth  of  Israel's 
national  life.  Christ,  present  in  His  living  Spirit, 
lacerated  at  heart  by  the  bitter  feuds  of  those  who  call 
Him  Lord,  should  temper  the  harsh  judgments  that 
Christians  pass  on  servants  of  their  One  Master.  The 
Jewish  prophet  lamenting  the  miseries  of  schismatic 
Israel  contrasts  with  the  Pope  singing  Te  Deums  over 
the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew. 
Then  comes  the  answer  : — 

"  Thus  saith  Jehovah  : 
Refrain  thy  voice  from  weeping,  and  thine  eyes  from  tears. 
Thou  shalt   have  wages  for   thy  labour — it  is  the  utterance  of 

Jehovah— they  shall  return  from  the  enemy's  land. 
There  is  hope  for  thee  in  the  days  to  come — it  is  the  utterance  of 

Jehovah — thy  children  shall  return  to  their  own  border."  ^ 

The   Niobe   of  the   nation  is   comforted,   but   now   is 
heard  another  voice  : — 

"Surely  I  hear  Ephraim  bemoaning  himself:  Thou  hast  chastised 
me ;   I  am  chastised  like  a  calf  not  yet  broken  to  the  yoke. 
Restore  me  to  Thy  favour,  that  I   may  return  unto  Thee,  for 
Thou  art  Jehovah  my  God. 


»  xl.  I. 

^  LXX.  omits  verse  17^,  i.e.  from  "Jehovah"  to  "border.' 


xxxi.]  RESTORATION— III.  REUNION  337 

In  returning  unto  Thee,  I  repent ;   when  I   come  to  myself,   I 
smite  upon  my  thigh  in  penitence."  * 

The  image  of  the  calf  is  another  reminiscence  of  Hosea, 
with  whom  Israel  figures  as  a  "  backsliding  heifer  "  and 
Ephraim  as  a  ^'heifer  that  has  been  broken  in  and 
loveth  to  tread  out  the  corn "  ;  though  apparently  in 
Hosea  Ephraim  is  broken  in  to  wickedness.  Possibly 
this  figure  was  suggested  by  the  calves  at  Bethel  and 
Dan. 

The  moaning  of  Ephraim,  like  the  wailing  of  Rachel, 
is  met  and  answered  by  the  Divine  compassion.  By 
a  bold  and  touching  figure,  Jehovah  is  represented  as 
surprised  at  the  depth  of  His  passionate  affection  for 
His  prodigal  son  : — 

"  Can  it  be  that  Ephraim  is  indeed  a  son  that  is  precious  to  Me  ? 

is  he  indeed  a  darHng  child  ? 
As  often  as  I  speak  against  him,  I  cannot  cease   to  remember 

him,^ 
Wherefore  My  tender  compassion  is  moved  towards  him :  verily 

I  will  have  mercy  on  him — 
It  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah." 

As  with  Hosea,  Israel  is  still  the  child  whom 
Jehovah  loved,  the  son  whom  He  called  out  of  Egypt. 
But  now  Israel  is  called  with  a  more  effectual  calling  : — 

"  Set  thee  up  pillars  of  stone,^  to  mark  the  way;  make  thee  guide- 
posts  :    set  thy  heart   toward   the   highway  whereby  thou 
wentest. 
Return,  O  Virgin  of  Israel,  return  unto  these  thy  cities." 


*  Slightly  paraphrased. 

^  More  literally  as  R.V.,  "  I  do  earnestly  remember  him  still." 
^  The  Hebrew  Text  has  the  same  word,  "tamrurim,"  here  that 
is  used  in  verse  15  in  the  phrase  "bekhi  tamrurim,"  "weeping  of 
bitternesses "  or  "  bitter  weeping."  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the 
coincidence  is  accidental,  and  Hebrew  literature  is  given  to  parono- 
masia ;  at  the  same  time  the  distance  of  the  words  and  the  complete 

22 


338  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

The  following  verse  strikes  a  note  of  discord,  that 
suggests  the  revulsion  of  feeling,  the  sudden  access  of 
doubt,  that  sometimes  follows  the  most  ecstatic  moods  : — 

"  How  long  wilt  thou  wander  to  and  fro,  O  backsliding  daughter  ? 
Jehovah    hath   created    a   new   thing   in   the    earth — a   woman 
shall  compass  a  man." 

It  is  just  possible  that  this  verse  is  not  intended  to 
express  doubt  of  Israel's  cordial  response,  but  is  merely 
an  affectionate  urgency  that  presses  the  immediate 
appropriation  of  the  promised  blessings.  But  such 
an  exegesis  seems  forced,  and  the  verse  is  a  strange 
termination  to  the  glowing  stanzas  that  precede.  It 
may  have  been  added  when  all  hope  of  the  return  of 
the  ten  tribes  was  over.^ 

The  meaning  of  the  concluding  enigma  is  as  pro- 
found a  mystery  as  the  fate  of  the  lost  tribes,  and  the 
solutions  rather  more  unsatisfactory.  The  words 
apparently  denote  that  the  male  and  the  female  shall 
interchange  functions,  and  an  explanation  often  given 
is  that,  in  the  profound  peace  of  the  New  Dispensation, 
the  women  will  protect  the  men.  This  portent  seems 
to  be  the  sign  which  is  to  win  the  Virgin  of  Israel  from 
her  vacillation  and  induce  her  to  return  at  once  to 
Palestine. 

In  Isaiah  xliii.  19  the  ^'new  thing"  which  Jehovah 


absence  of  point  in  this  particular  instance  are  remarkable.  The 
LXX.,  not  understanding  the  word,  represented  it  more  suo  by  the 
similar  Greek  word  Tifiajpiav,  which  may  indicate  that  the  original 
reading  was  "timorim,"  and  the  assimilation  to  '^tamrurim"  may 
be  a  scribe's  caprice.  In  any  case,  the  word  here  connects  with 
"  tamar,"  a  palm,  the  post  being  made  of  or  like  a  palm  tree.  Cf. 
Giesebrecht,  Orelli,  Cheyne,  etc. 

'  Giesebrecht   treats   verses  21-26   as   a   later   addition,    but   this 
seems  unnecessary. 


xxxi.]  RESTORATION— III.  REUNION  339 

does  is  to  make  a  way  in  the  untrodden  desert  and 
rivers  in  the  parched  wilderness.  A  parallel  interpreta- 
tion, suggested  for  our  passage,  is  that  women  should 
develop  manly  strength  and  courage,  as  abnormal  to 
them  as  roads  and  rivers  to  a  wilderness.  When 
women  were  thus  endowed,  men  could  not  for  shame 
shrink  from  the  perils  of  the  Return. 

In  Isaiah  iv.  i  seven  women  court  one  man,  and  it 
has  been  suggested^  that  the  sense  here  is  '^ women 
shall  court  men,"  but  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  this 
would  be  relevant.  Another  parallel  has  been  sought 
for  in  the  Immanuel  and  other  prophecies  of  Isaiah, 
in  which  the  birth  of  a  child  is  set  forth  as  a  sign. 
Our  passage  would  then  assume  a  Messianic  character  ; 
the  return  of  the  Virgin  of  Israel  would  be  postponed 
till  her  doubts  and  difficulties  should  be  solved  by  the 
appearance  of  a  new  Moses.^  This  view  has  much  to 
commend  it,  but  does  not  very  readily  follow  from  the 
usage  of  the  word  translated  ''compass."  Still  less 
can  we  regard  these  words  as  a  prediction  of  the 
miraculous  conception  of  our  Lord. 

The  next  stanza  connects  the  restoration  of  Judah 
with  that  of  Ephraim,  and,  for  the  most  part,  goes  over 
ground  already  traversed  in  our  previous  chapters ; 
one  or  two  points  only  need  be  noticed  here.  It  is 
in  accordance  with  the  catholic  and  gracious  spirit 
which  characterises  this  chapter  that  the  restoration 
of  Judah  is  expressly  connected  with  that  of  Ephraim. 
The  combination  of  the  future  fortunes  of  both  in  a 
single  prophecy  emphasises  their  reunion.  The  head- 
ing of  this  stanza,  ''Thus  saith  Jehovah  Sabaoth,  the 
God  of  Israel,"  is  different  from  that  hitherto  used,  and 


So  Kautzsch.  ^  q{^  Streane,  Cambridge  Bible. 


340  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

has  a  special  significance  in  its  present  context.  It  is 
"  the  God  of  Israel "  to  whom  Ephraim  is  a  darling 
child  and  a  first-born  son,  the  God  of  that  Israel 
which  for  centuries  stood  before  the  world  as  Ephraim ; 
it  is  this  God  who  blesses  and  redeems  Judah.  Her 
faint  and  weary  soul  is  also  to  be  satisfied  with  His 
plenty;  Zion  is  to  be  honoured  as  the  habitation  of 
justice  and  the  mountain  of  holiness. 

*'  Hereupon/'  saith  the  prophet,  ^'  I  awaked  and 
looked  about  me,  and  felt  that  my  sleep  had  been 
pleasant  to  me."  The  vision  had  come  to  him,  in 
some  sense,  as  a  dream.  Zechariah  ^  had  to  be  aroused, 
like  a  man  wakened  out  of  his  sleep,  in  order  to 
receive  the  Divine  message  ;  and  possibly  Zechariah's 
sleep  was  the  ecstatic  trance  in  which  he  had  beheld 
previous  visions.  Jeremiah,  however,  shows  scant  con- 
fidence ^  in  the  inspiration  of  those  who  dream  dreams, 
and  it  does  not  seem  likely  that  this  is  a  unique 
exception  to  his  ordinary  experience.  Perhaps  we  may 
say  with  Orelli  that  the  prophet  had  become  lost  in 
the  vision  of  future  blessedness  as  in  some  sweet 
dream. 

In  the  following  stanza  Jehovah  promises  to  recruit 
the  dwindled  numbers  of  Israel  and  Judah;  with  a 
sowing  more  gracious  and  fortunate  than  that  of 
Cadmus,  He  will  scatter^  over  the  land,  not  dragons' 
teeth,  but  the  seed  of  man  and  beast.  Recurring* 
to  Jeremiah's  original  commission.  He  promises  that 
as  He  watched  over  Judah  to  pluck  up  and  to  break 

'  Zech.  iv.  I. 

^  xxiii.  25-32,  xxvii.  9,  xxix.  8:  cf.  Deut.  xiii.  I -5. 

^  Cf.  Hosea  ii.  23,  "  I  will  sow  her  unto  Me  in  the  earth  "  (or  land), 
in  reference  to  Jezreel,  understood  as  "  Whom  God  soweth " 
(R.V.  margin).  ■*  i.  10-12. 


xxxi.]  RESTORATION— III.  REUNION  341 

down,  to  overthrow  and  to    destroy  and  to  afQict,  so 
now  He  will  watch  over  them  to  build  and  to  plant. 

The  next  verse  is  directed  against  a  lingering  dread, 
by  which  men's  minds  were  still  possessed.  More  than 
half  a  century  elapsed  between  the  death  of  Manasseh 
and  the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Josiah,  who  ''turned  to  Jehovah  with  all  his  heart,  and 
with  all  his  soul,  and  with  all  his  might."  ^  Yet  Jehovah 
declared  to  Jeremiah  that  Manasseh's  sins  had  irre- 
vocably fixed  the  doom  of  Judah,  so  that  not  even 
the  intercession  of  Moses  and  Samuel  could  procure 
her  pardon.^  Men  might  well  doubt  whether  the 
guilt  of  that  wicked  reign  was  even  yet  fully  expiated, 
whether  their  teeth  might  not  still  be  set  on  edge 
because  of  the  sour  grapes  which  Manasseh  had  eaten. 
Therefore  the  prophet  continues  :  "In  those  days  men 
shall  no  longer  say,  The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes, 
and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge ;  but  every 
man  shall  die  for  his  own  transgression,  all  who  eat 
sour  grapes  shall  have  their  own  teeth  set  on  edge." 
Or  to  use  the  explicit  words  of  Ezekiel,  in  the  great 
chapter  in  which  he  discusses  this  permanent  theo- 
logical difficulty  :  "  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die. 
The  son  shall  not  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  father, 
neither  shall  the  father  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  son  ; 
the  righteousness  of  the  righteous  shall  be  upon  him, 
and  the  wickedness  of  the  wicked  shall  be  upon  him."  ^ 
With  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  a  chapter  in  the  history 
of  Israel  was  concluded  for  ever ;  Jehovah  blotted  out 
the  damning  record  of  the  past,  and  turned  over  a 
new  leaf  in   the  annals  of  His  people.     The  account 


•  2  Kings  xxiii.  25.  ^  xv.  1-4. 

'  Ezek.  xviii.  20:  cf.  Cheyne,  Jeremiah  (Men  of  the  Bible),  p.  150. 


342  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

between  Jehovah  and  the  Israel  of  the  monarchy  was 
finally  closed,  and  no  penal  balance  was  carried  over 
to  stand  against  the  restored  community. 

The  last  portion  of  this  chapter  is  so  important  that 
we  must  reserve  it  for  separate  treatment,  but  we  may 
pause  for  a  moment  to  consider  the  prophecy  of  the 
restoration  of  Ephraim  from  two  points  of  view — the 
unity  of  Israel  and  the  return  of  the  ten  tribes. 

In  the  first  place,  this  chapter  is  an  eirenicon,  intended 
to  consign  to  oblivion  the  divisions  and  feuds  of  the 
Chosen  People.  After  the  fall  of  Samaria,  the  remnant 
of  Israel  had  naturally  looked  to  Judah  for  support 
and  protection,  and  the  growing  weakness  of  Assyria 
had  allowed  the  Jewish  kings  to  exercise  a  certain 
authority  over  the  territory  of  northern  tribes.  The 
same  fate — the  sack  of  the  capital  and  the  deportation 
of  most  of  the  inhabitants — had  successively  befallen 
Ephraim  and  Judah.  His  sense  of  the  unity  of  the 
race  was  too  strong  ta  allow  the  prophet  to  be  satisfied 
with  the  return  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  apart  from  the 
other  tribes.  Yet  it  would  have  been  monstrous  to 
suppose  that  Jehovah  v/ould  bring  back  Ephraim  from 
Assyria,  and  Judah  from  Babylon,  only  that  they  might 
resume  their  mutual  hatred  and  suspicion.  Even  wild 
beasts  are  said  not  to  rend  one  another  when  they  are 
driven  by  floods  to  the  same  hill-top. 

Thus  various  causes  contributed  to  produce  a  kindlier 
feeling  between  the  survivors  of  the  catastrophes  of 
Samaria  and  Jerusalem ;  and  from  henceforth  those 
of  the  ten  tribes  who  found  their  way  back  to  Palestine 
lived  in  brotherly  union  with  the  other  Jews.  And, 
on  the  whole,  the  Jews  have  since  remained  united 
both  as  a  race  and  a  religious  community.  It  is  true 
that  the  relations  of  the  later  Jews  to  Samaria  were 


xxxi.]  RESTORATION— III.  REUNION  343 

somewhat  at  variance  both  with  the  letter  and  spirit 
of  this  prophecy,  but  that  Samaria  had  only  the 
slightest  claim  to  be  included  in  Israel.  Otherwise 
the  divisions  between  Hillel  and  Shammai,  Sadducees 
and  Pharisees,  Karaites,  Sephardim  and  Ashkenazim, 
Reformed  and  Unreformed  Jews,  have  rather  been 
legitimate  varieties  of  opinion  and  practice  within 
Judaism  than  a  rending  asunder  of  the  Israel  of  God. 

Matters  stand  very  differently  with  regard  to  the 
restoration  of  Ephraim.  We  know  that  individual 
members  and  families  of  the  ten  tribes  were  included 
in  the  new  Jewish  community,  and  that  the  Jews 
reoccupied  Galilee  and  portions  of  Eastern  Palestine. 
But  the  husbandmen  who  had  planted  vineyards  on 
the  hills  of  Samaria  were  violently  repulsed  by  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah,  ^nd  were  denied  any  part  or  lot  in  the 
restored  Israel.  The  tribal  inheritance  of  Ephraim  and 
Manasseh  was  never  reoccupied  by  Ephraimites  and 
Manassites  who  came  to  worship  Jehovah  in  His 
Temple  at  Jerusalem.  There  was  no  return  of  the 
ten  tribes  that  in  any  way  corresponded  to  the  terms 
of  this  prophecy  or  that  could  rank  with  the  return 
of  their  brethren.  Our  growing  acquaintance  with  the 
races  of  the  world  seems  likely  to  exclude  even  the 
possibility  of  any  such  restoration  of  Ephraim.  Of 
the  two  divisions  of  Israel,  so  long  united  in  common 
experiences  of  grace  and  chastisement,  the  one  has 
been  taken  and  the  other  left. 

Christendom  is  the  true  heir  of  the  ideals  of  Israel, 
but  she  is  mostly  content  to  inherit  them  as  counsels 
of  perfection.  Isaiah^  struck  the  keynote  of  this 
chapter  when  he  prophesied  that  Ephraim  should  not 

'   Isa.  xi.  13. 


344  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

envy  Judah,  nor  Judah  vex  Ephraim.  Our  prophet, 
in  the  same  generous  spirit,  propounds"  a  programme 
of  reconciliation.  It  might  serve  for  a  model  to  those 
who  construct  schemes  for  Christian  Reunion.  When 
two  denominations  are  able  to  unite  on  such  terms 
that  the  one  admits  the  other  to  be  the  first-born  of 
God,  His  darling  child  and  precious  in  His  sight,  and 
the  latter  is  willing  to  accept  the  former's  central 
sanctuary  as  the  headquarters  of  the  united  body,  we 
shall  have  come  some  way  towards  realising  this  ancient 
Jewish  ideal.  Meanwhile  Ephraim  remains  consum.ed 
with  envy  of  Judah;  and  Judah  apparently  considers 
it  her  most  sacred  duty  to  vex  Ephraim.  . 

Moreover  the  disappearance  of  what  was  at  one  time 
the  most  flourishing  branch  of  the  Hebrew  Church  has 
many  parallels  in  Church  History.  Again  and  again 
religious  dissension  has  been  one  of  the  causes  of 
poKtical  ruin,  and  the  overthrow  of  a  Christian  state 
has  sometimes  involved  the  extinction  of  its  religion. 
Christian  thought  and  doctrine  owe  an  immense  debt 
to  the  great  Churches  of  Northern  Africa  and  Egypt. 
But  these  provinces  were  torn  by  the  dissensions  of 
ecclesiastical  parties;  and  the  quarrels  of  Donatists, 
Arians,  and  Catholics  in  North  Africa,  the  endless 
controversies  over  the  Person  of  Christ  in  Egypt,  left 
them  helpless  before  the  Saracen  invader.  To-day 
the  Church  of  Tertullian  and  Augustine  is  blotted  out, 
and  the  Church  of  Origen  and  Clement  is  a  miserable 
remnant.  Similarly  the  ecclesiastical  strife  between 
Rome  and  Constantinople  lost  to  Christendom  some 
of  the  fairest  provinces  of  Europe  and  Asia,  and  placed 
Christian  races  under  the  rule  of  the  Turk. 

Even  now  the  cause  of  Christians  in  heathen  and 
Mohammedan   countries   suffers  from  the  jealousy  of 


xxxi.]  RESTORATION— III.  REUNION  345 

Christian  states,  and  modern  Churches  sometimes  avail 
themselves  of  this  jealousy  to  try  and  oust  their  rivals 
from  promising  fields  for  mission  work. 

It  is  a  melancholy  reflection  that  Jeremiah's  effort 
at  reconciliation  came  too  late,  when  the  tribes  whom 
it  sought  to  reunite  were  hopelessly  set  asunder. 
Reconciliation,  which  involves  a  kind  of  mutual  re- 
pentance, can  ill  afford  to  be  deferred  to  the  eleventh 
hour.  In  the  last  agonies  of  the  Greek  Empire,  there 
was  more  than  one  formal  reconciliation  between  the 
Eastern  and  Western  Churches;  but  they  also  came 
too  late,  and  could  not  survive  the  Empire  which  they 
failed  to  preserve. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII 

RESTORATION— IV.    THE  NEW  COVENANT 

xxxi.  31-38:  cf.  Hebrews  viii. 

"  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel  and  the  house 
of  Judah." — Jer.  xxxi.  31. 

THE  religious  history  of  Israel  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment has  for  its  epochs  a  series  of  covenants  : 
Jehovah  declared  His  gracious  purposes  towards  His 
people,  and  made  known  the  conditions  upon  which  they 
were  to  enjoy  His  promised  blessings  ;  they,  on  their 
part,  undertook  to  observe  faithfully  all  that  Jehovah 
commanded.  We  are  told  that  covenants  were  made 
with  Noah,  after  the  Flood  ;  w^ith  Abraham,  when  he 
was  assured  that  his  descendants  should  inherit  the  land 
of  Canaan  ;  at  Sinai,  when  Israel  first  became  a  nation  ; 
with  Joshua,  after  the  Promised  Land  was  conquered  ; 
and,  at  the  close  of  Old  Testament  history,  when  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah  established  the  Pentateuch  as  the  Code 
and  Canon  of  Judaism. 

One  of  the  oldest  sections  of  the  Pentateuch,  Exodus 
XX.  20 — xxiii.  33,  is  called  the  ''  Book  of  the  Covenant,"  ^ 
and  Ewald  named  the  Priestly  Code  the  "  Book  of  the 
Four  Covenants."  Judges  and  Samuel  record  no  cove- 
nants between  Jehovah  and  Israel ;  but  the  promise  of 
permanence  to  the  Davidic  dynasty  is  spoken  of  as  an. 

'  Exod.  xxiv.  7. 
346 


xxxi.]     RESTORATION— IV.  THE  NEW  COVENANT        ^47 

everlasting  covenant.  Isaiah/  Amos,  and  Micah  make 
no  mention  of  the  Divine  covenants.  Jeremiah, 
however,  imitates  Hosea  ^  in  emphasising  this  aspect 
of  Jehovah's  relation  to  Israel,  and  is  followed  in  his 
turn  by  Ezekiel  and  II.  Isaiah. 

Jeremiah  had  played  his  part  in  establishing 
covenants  between  Israel  and  its  God.  He  is  not, 
indeed,  even  so  much  as  mentioned  in  the  account 
of  Josiah's  reformation  ;  and  it  is  not  clear  that  he 
himself  makes  any  express  reference  to  it ;  so  that 
some  doubt  must  still  be  felt  as  to  his  share  in 
that  great  movement.  At  the  same  time  indirect 
evidence  seems  to  afford  proof  of  the  common  opinion 
that  Jeremiah  was  active  in  the  proceedings  which 
resulted  in  the  solemn  engagement  to  observe  the 
code  of  Deuteronomy.  But  yet  another  covenant 
occupies  a  chapter  ^  in  the  Book  of  Jeremiah,  and  in 
this  case  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  prophet  was  the 
prime  mover  in  inducing  the  Jews  to  release  their 
Hebrew  slaves.  This  act  of  emancipation  was  adopted 
in  obedience  to  an  ordinance  of  Deuteronomy,'*  so  that 
Jeremiah's  experience  of  former  covenants  was  chiefly 
connected  with  the  code  of  Deuteronomy  and  the 
older  Book  of  the  Covenant  upon  which  it  was  based. 

The  Restoration  to  which  Jeremiah  looked  forward 
was  to  throw  the  Exodus  into  the  shade,  and  to  con- 
stitute a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  Israel  more 
remarkable  than  the  first  settlement  in  Canaan.  The 
nation  was  to  be   founded  anew,  and  its  regeneration 


*  I.e.  in  the  sections  generally  acknowledged. 
^  Hosea  ii.  18,  vi.  7>  viii.  I. 

*  xxxiv. 

*  Cf.  xxxiv.  14  with  Deut.  xv.  12  and  Exod.  xxi,  2. 


348  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

would  necessarily  rest  upon  a  New  Covenant,  which 
would  supersede  the  Covenant  of  Sinai. 

'^  Behold,  the  days  come — it  is  the  utterance  of 
Jehovah — when  I  will  enter  into  a  new  covenant  with 
the  House  of  Israel  and  the  House  of  Judah  :  not 
according  to  the  covenant  into  which  I  entered  with 
your  fathers,  when  I  took  them  by  the  hand  to  bring 
them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt." 

The  Book  of  the  Covenant  and  Deuteronomy  had 
both  been  editions  of  the  Mosaic  Covenant,  and  had 
neither  been  intended  nor  regarded  as  anything  new. 
Whatever  was  fresh  in  them,  either  in  form  or  sub- 
stance, was  merely  the  adaptation  of  existing  ordinances 
to  altered  circumstances.  But  now  the  Mosaic 
Covenant  was  declared  obsolete,  the  New  Covenant 
was  not  to  be,  like  Deuteronomy,  merely  a  fresh 
edition  of  the  earliest  code.  The  Return  from 
Babylon,  Hke  the  primitive  Migration  from  Ur  and 
like  the  Exodus  from  Egypt,  was  to  be  the  occasion 
of  a  new  Revelation,  placing  the  relations  of  Jehovah 
and  His  people  on  a  new  footing. 

When  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  established,  as  the 
Covenant  of  the  Restoration,  yet  another  edition  of 
the  Mosaic  ordinances,  they  were  acting  in  the  teeth 
of  this  prophecy — not  because  Jehovah  had  changed 
His  purpose,  but  because  the  time  of  fulfilment  had 
not  yet  come.^ 

The  rendering  of  the  next  clause  is  uncertain,  and, 
in  any  case,  the  reason  given  for  setting  aside  the 
old  covenant  is  not  quite  what  might  have  been 
expected.  The  Authorised  and  Revised  Versions 
translate :  "  Which  My  covenant  they  brake,  although 

'  Cf.  Prof.  Adeney's  Ezra,  Nehemiah,  etc.,  in  this  series. 


xxxi.]    RESTORATION— IV.  THE  NEW  COVENANT         349 

I  was  an  husband  unto  them " ;  ^  thus  introducing 
that  Old  Testament  figure  of  marriage  between  Jehovah 
and  Israel  which  is  transferred  in  Ephesians  and  the 
Apocalypse  to  Christ  and  the  Churcfi.  The  margin 
of  the  Revised  Version  has :  "  Forasmuch  as  they 
brake  My  covenant,  although  I  was  lord  over  them." 
There  is  Httle  difference  between  these  two  translations, 
both  of  which  imply  that  in  breaking  the  covenant 
Israel  was  setting  aside  Jehovah's  legitimate  claim 
to  obedience.  A  third  translation,  on  much  the  same 
lines,  would  be  '*  although  I  was  Baal  unto  or  over 
them  "  ;  ^  Baal  or  ba'al  being  found  for  lord,  husband, 
in  ancient  times  as  a  name  of  Jehovah,  and  in 
Jeremiah's  time  as  a  name  of  heathen  gods.  Jeremiah 
is  fond  of  paronomasia,  and  frequently  refers  to  Baal, 
so  that  he  may  have  been  here  deliberately  ambiguous. 
The  phrase  might  suggest  to  the  Hebrew  reader  that 
Jehovah  was  the  true  lord  or  husband  of  Israel,  and 
the  true  Baal  or  God,  but  that  Israel  had  come  to 
regard  Him  as  a  mere  Baal,  like  one  of  the  Baals  of 
the  heathen.  *'  Forasmuch  as  they,  on  their  part,  set 
at  nought  My  covenant;  so  that  I,  their  true  Lord, 
became  to  them  as  a  mere  heathen  Baal."  The 
covenant  and  the  God  who  gave  it  were  alike  treated 
with  contempt. 

The  Septuagint,  which  is  quoted  in  Hebrews  viii.  9, 
has  another  translation  :  '*  And  I  regarded  them  not."  ^ 
Unless    this    represents    a    different    reading,*   it    is 


*  So  also  Kautzsch,  Reuss,  Sugfried,  and  Stade.     The  same  phrase 
is  thus  translated  in  iii.  14. 

2  "IwasBaal"  =  "baalti." 

*  TlTTi;  Pyj  occurs  in  xiv.  19,  and  is  translated  by  A.V.  and  R.V. 
'•  loathed." 


350  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

probably  due  to  a  feeling  that  the  form  of  the  Hebrew 
sentence  required  a  close  parallelism.  Israel  neglected 
to  observe  the  covenant,  and  Jehovah  ceased  to  feel 
any  interest  in  Israel.  But  the  idea  of  the  latter  clause 
seems  alien  to  the  context. 

In  any  case,  the  new  and  better  covenant  is  offered 
to  Israel,  after  it  has  failed  to  observe  the  first 
covenant.  This  Divine  procedure  is  not  quite  accord- 
ing to  many  of  our  theories.  The  law  of  ordinances 
is  often  spoken  of  as  adapted  to  the  childhood  of  the 
race.  We  set  children  easy  tasks,  and  when  these 
are  successfully  performed  we  require  of  them  some- 
thing more  difficult.  We  grant  them  limited  privileges, 
and  if  they  make  a  good  use  of  them  the  children 
are  promoted  to  higher  opportunities.  We  might 
perhaps  have  expected  that  when  the  Israelites  failed 
to  observe  the  Mosaic  ordinances,  they  would  have 
been  placed  under  a  narrower  and  harsher  dispensa- 
tion ;  yet  their  very  failure  leads  to  the  promise  of 
a  better  covenant  still.  Subsequent  history,  indeed, 
qualifies  the  strangeness  of  the  Divine  dealing.  Only 
a  remnant  of  Israel  survived  as  the  people  of  God. 
The  Covenant  of  Ezra  was  very  different  from  the 
New  Covenant  of  Jeremiah ;  and  the  later  Jews,  as  a 
community,^  did  not  accept  that  dispensation  of  grace 
which  ultimately  realised  Jeremiah's  prophecy.  In  a 
narrow  and  unspiritual  fashion  the  Jews  of  the  Restora- 
tion observed  the  covenant  of  external  ordinances ;  so 
that,  in  a  certain  sense,  the  Law  was  fulfilled  before 
the   new  Kingdom    of  God  was  inaugurated.     But  if 

'  We  usually  underrate  the  proportion  of  Jews  who  embraced 
Christianity.  Hellenistic  Judaism  disappeared  as  Christianity 
became  widely  diffused,  and  was  probably  for  the  most  part 
absorbed   into   the   new  faith. 


xxxi.]     RESTORATION— IV.  THE  NEW  COVENANT         351 

Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  had  reviewed  the  history  of  the 
restored  community,  they  would  have  decHned  to 
receive  it  as,  in  any  sense,  the  fulfiUing  of  a  Divine 
covenant.  The  Law  of  Moses  was  not  fulfilled,  but 
made  void,  by  the  traditions  of  the  Pharisees.  The 
fact  therefore  remains,  that  failure  in  the  lower  forms, 
so  to  speak,  of  God's  school  is  still  followed  by 
promotion  to  higher  privileges.  However  little  we 
may  be  able  to  reconcile  this  truth  with  a  priori  views 
of  Providence,  it  has  analogies  in  nature,  and  reveals 
new  depths  of  Divine  love  and  greater  resourcefulness 
of  Divine  grace.  Boys  whose  early  life  is  unsatis- 
factory nevertheless  grow  up  into  the  responsibilities 
and  privileges  of  manhood  ;  and  the  wilful,  disobedient 
child  does  not  always  make  a  bad  man.  We  are  apt 
to  think  that  the  highest  form  of  development  is 
steady,  continuous,  and  serene,  from  good  to  better, 
from  better  to  best.  The  real  order  is  more  awful 
and  stupendous,  combining  good  and  evil,  success  and 
failure,  victory  and  defeat,  in  its  continuous  advance 
through  the  ages.  The  wrath  of  man  is  not  the  only 
evil  passion  that  praises  God  by  its  ultimate  subser- 
vience to  His  purpose.  We  need  not  fear  lest  such 
Divine  overruling  of  sin  should  prove  any  temptation 
to  wrongdoing,  seeing  that  it  works,  as  in  the  exile 
of  Israel,  through  the  anguish  and  humiliation  of  the 
sinner. 

The  next  verse  explains  the  character  of  the  New 
Covenant ;  once  Jehovah  wrote  His  law  on  tables  of 
stone,  but  now  : — 

"This  is  the  covenant  which  I  will  conclude  with  the  House  of 
Israel  after  those  days — it  is  the  utterance  of  Jehovah — 
I  will  put  My  law  within  them,  and  will  write  it  upon  their  heart ; 
And  I  will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  My  people." 


352  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

These  last  words  were  an  ancient  formula  for  the 
immemorial  relation  of  Jehovah  and  Israel,  but  they 
were  to  receive  new  fulness  of  meaning.  The  inner 
law,  written  on  the  heart,  is  in  contrast  to  Mosaic 
ordinances.  It  has,  therefore,  two  essential  character- 
istics :  first,  it  governs  life,  not  by  fixed  external 
regulations,  but  by  the  continual  control  of  heart 
and  conscience  by  the  Divine  Spirit ;  secondly, 
obedience  is  rendered  to  the  Divine  Will,  not  from 
external  compulsion,  but  because  man's  inmost  nature 
is  possessed  by  entire  loyalty  to  God.  The  new  law 
involves  no  alteration  of  the  standards  of  morality  or 
of  theological  doctrine,  but  it  lays  stress  on  the  spiritual 
character  of  man's  relation  to  God,  and  therefore  on 
the  fact  that  God  is  a  spiritual  and  moral  being. 
When  man's  obedience  is  claimed  on  the  ground 
of  God's  irresistible  power,  and  appeal  is  made  to 
material  rewards  and  punishments,  God's  personality 
is  obscured  and  the  way  is  opened  for  the  deification 
of  political  or  material  Force.  This  doctrine  of  setting 
aside  of  ancient  codes  by  the  authority  of  the  Inner 
Law  is  implied  in  many  passages  of  our  book.  The 
superseding  of  the  Mosaic  Law  is  set  forth  by  a  most 
expressive  symbol,^  "  When  ye  are  multiplied  and 
increased  in  the  land,  '  The  Ark  of  the  Covenant  of 
Jehovah '  shall  no  longer  be  the  watchword  of  Israel : 
men  shall  neither  think  of  the  ark  nor  remember  it ; 
they  shall  neither  miss  the  ark  nor  make  another  in 
its  place."  The  Ark  and  the  Mosaic  Torah  were 
inseparably  connected ;  if  the  Ark  was  to  perish  and 
be  forgotten,  the  Law  must  also  be  annulled. 

Jeremiah   moreover   discerned  with  Paul   that  there 

'  iii.  14,  slightly  paraphrased. 


xxxi.]     RESTORATION— IV.  THE  NEW  COVENANT        353 

was  a  law  in  the  members  warring  against  the  Law 
of  Jehovah :  '*  The  sin  of  Judah  is  written  with  a  pen 
of  iron,  and  with  the  point  of  a  diamond  :  it  is  graven 
upon  the  table  of  their  heart,  and  upon  the  horns  of 
their  altars."  ^ 

Hence  the  heart  of  the  people  had  to  be  changed 
before  they  could  enter  into  the  blessings  of  the 
Restoration :  *^  I  will  give  them  an  heart  to  know 
Me,  that  I  am  Jehovah  :  and  they  shall  be  My  people, 
and  I  will  be  their  God  :  for  they  shall  return  unto 
Me  with  their  whole  heart."  "^  In  the  exposition  of 
the  symbolic  purchase  of  Hanameel's  field,  Jehovah 
promises  to  make  an  everlasting  covenant  with  His 
people,  that  He  will  always  do  them  good  and  never 
forsake  them.  Such  continual  blessings  imply  that 
Israel  will  always  be  faithful.  Jehovah  no  longer 
seeks  to  ensure  their  fidelity  by  an  external  law,  with 
its  alternate  threats  and  promises  :  He  will  rather 
control  the  inner  life  by  His  grace.  ^'  I  will  give  them 
one  heart  and  one  way,  that  they  may  fear  Me  for 
ever ;  .  .  .  I  will  put  My  fear  in  their  hearts,  that  they 
may  not  depart  from  Me."  ^ 

We  must  not,  of  course,  suppose  that  these  principles 
— of  obedience  from  loyal  enthusiasm,  and  of  the 
guidance  of  heart  and  conscience  by  the  Spirit  of 
Jehovah — were  new  to  the  religion  of  Israel.  They 
are  implied  in  the  idea  of  prophetic  inspiration.  When 
Saul  went  home  to  Gibeah,  ''there  went  with  him  a 
band  of  men,  whose  hearts  God  had  touched."  ^  In 
Deuteronomy,  Israel  is  commanded  to  ''  love  Jehovah 
thy  God  with  all  thine   heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul, 


'  xvii.  I.  ^  xxxii.  39,  40. 

^  xxiv.  7.  ^  I  Sam.  x.  26. 


23 


354  TtlE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

and  with  all  thy  might.  And  these  words,  which  I 
command  thee  this  day,  shall  be  in  thine  heart."  ^ 
L^  The  novelty  of  Jeremiah's  teaching  is  that  these 
principles  are  made  central  in  the  New  Covenant. 
Even  Deuteronomy,  which  approaches  so  closely  to 
the  teaching  of  Jeremiah,  was  a  new  edition  of  the 
Covenant  of  the  Exodus,  an  attempt  to  secure  a 
righteous  life  by  exhaustive  rules  and  by  external 
sanctions.  Jeremiah  had  witnessed  and  probably 
assisted  the  effort  to  reform  Judah  by  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  Deuteronomic  Code.  But  when  Josiah's 
religious  policy  collapsed  after  his  defeat  and  death 
at  Megiddo,  Jeremiah  lost  faith  in  elaborate  codes, 
and  turned  from  the  letter  to  the  spirit. 

The  next  feature  of  the  New  Covenant  naturally 
follows  from  its  being  written  upon  men's  hearts  by 
the  finger  of  Jehovah  : — 

"Men  shall  no  longer  teach  one  another  and  teach  each  other' 
saying,  Know  ye  Jehovah  ! 
For  all  shall  know  Me,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest— it  is  the 
utterance  of  Jehovah." 

In  ancient  times  men  could  only  *'  know  Jehovah " 
and  ascertain  His  will  by  resorting  to  some  sanctuary, 
where  the  priests  preserved  and  transmitted  the  sacred* 
tradition  and  delivered  the  Divine  oracles.  Written 
codes  scarcely  altered  the  situation;  copies  would  be 
few  and  far  between,  and  still  mostly  in  the  custody 
of  the  priests.  Whatever  drawbacks  arise  from  attach- 
ing supreme  religious  authority  to  a  printed  book  were 
multiplied  a  thousandfold  when  codes  could  only  be 
copied.     But,  in  the  New  Israel,  men's  spiritual   life 


'  Deut.  vi.  5,  6. 


xxxi.]     RESTORATION— IV.  THE  NEW  COVENANT        355 

would  not  be  at  the  mercy  of  pen,  ink,  and  paper, 
of  scribe  and  priest.  The  man  who  had  a  book  and 
could  read  would  no  longer  be  able,  with  the  self- 
importance  of  exclusive  knowledge,  to  bid  his  less 
fortunate  brethren  to  know  Jehovah.  He  Himself 
would  be  the  one  teacher,  and  His  instruction  would 
fall,  like  the  sunshine  and  the  rain,  upon  all  hearts  ahke. 
And  yet  again  Israel  is  assured  that  past  sin  shall 
not  hinder  the  fulfilment  of  this  glorious  vision  : — 

' '  For  I  will  forgive  their  iniquity,  and  their  sin  will  I  remember 
no  more." 

Recurring  to  the  general  topic  of  the  Restoration  of 
Israel,  the  prophet  affixes  the  double  seal  of  two  solemn 
Divine  asseverations.  Of  old,  Jehovah  had  promised 
Noah:  "While  the  earth  remaineth,  seedtime  and 
harvest,  cold  and  heat,  summer  and  winter,  day  and 
night,  shall  not  cease."  ^  Now  He  promises  that  while 
sun  and  moon  and  stars  and  sea  continue  in  their 
appointed  order,  Israel  shall  not  cease  from  being  a 
nation.  And,  again,  Jehovah  will  not  cast  off  Israel 
on  account  of  its  sin  till  the  height  of  heaven  can  be 
measured  and  the  foundations  of  the  earth  searched  out.^ 

'  Gen.  viii.  22  (J.). 

^  Verses  35-37  occur  in  the  LXX.  in  the  order  37,  35,  36,  They 
are  considered  by  many  critics  to  be  a  later  addition.  The  most 
remarkable  feature  of  the  paragraph  is  the  clause  translated  by  the 
Authorised  Version  "  which  divideth  [Revised  Version,  text  "  stirreth 
up,"  margin  "  stilleth  "]  the  sea  when  the  waves  thereof  roar  ;  The  Lord 
of  Hosts  is  His  name."  This  whole  clause  is  taken  word  for  word 
from  Isa.  li.  15,  "  I  am  Jehovah  thy  God,  which  stirreth  up,"  etc.  It 
seems  clear  that  either  this  clause  or  35-37  as  a  whole  were  added  by  an 
editor  acquainted  with  II.  Isaiah.  The  prophecy,  as  it  stands  in  the 
Masoretic  text,  is  concluded  by  a  detailed  description  of  the  site  of  the 
restored  Jerusalem.  The  contrast  between  the  glorious  vision  of  the 
New  Israel  and  these  architectural  specifications  is  almost  grotesque. 


356  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 


Verses  38-40  are  regarded  by  many  as  a  later  addition ;  and  even  if 
they  are  by  Jeremiah,  they  form  an  independent  prophecy  and  have 
no  connection  with  the  rest  of  the  chapter.  Our  knowledge  of  the 
geographical  points  mentioned  is  not  sufficient  to  enable  us  to  define 
the  site  assigned  to  the  restored  city.  The  point  of  verse  40  is  that 
the  most  unclean  districts  of  the  ancient  city  shall  partake  of  the 
sanctity  of  the  New  Jerusalem. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV 

RESTORA  TION—  V.  RE  VIE  IV 

XXX. — xxxiii. 

IN  reviewing  these  chapters  we  must  be  careful  not 
to  suppose  that  Jeremiah  knew  all  that  would  ulti- 
mately result  from  his  teaching.  When  he  declared 
that  the  conditions  of  the  New  Covenant  would  be 
written,  not  in  a  few  parchments,  but  on  every  heart, 
he  laid  down  a  principle  which  involved  the  most 
characteristic  teaching  of  the  Nev/  Testament  and  the 
Reformers,  and  which  might  seem  to  justify  extreme 
mysticism.  When  we  read  these  prophecies  in  the 
hght  of  history,  they  seem  to  lead  by  a  short  and  direct 
path  to  the  Pauline  doctrines  of  Faith  and  Grace. 
Constraining  grace  is  described  in  the  words :  "  I  will 
put  My  fear  in  their  hearts,  that  they  shall  not  depart 
from  Me."^  Justification  by  faith  instead  of  works 
substitutes  the  response  of  the  soul  to  the  Spirit  of 
God  for  conformity  to  a  set  of  external  regulations — 
the  writing  on  the  heart  for  the  carving  of  ordinances  x  . 
on  stone.  Yet,  as  Newton's  discovery  of  the  law  of  I  \J 
gravitation  did  not  make  him  aware  of  all  that  later 
astronomers  have  discovered,  so  Jeremiah  did  not 
anticipate  Paul  and  Augustine,  Luther  and  Calvin :  he 
was  only  their  forerunner.     Still  less  did  he  intend  to 


357 


358  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

affirm  all  that  has  been  taught  by  the  Brothers  of  the 
Common  Life  or  the  Society  of  Friends.  We  have 
followed  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  in  interpreting 
his  prophecy  of  the  New  Covenant  as  abrogating  the 
Mosaic  code  and  inaugurating  a  new  departure  upon 
entirely  different  lines.  This  view  is  supported  by  his 
attitude  towards  the  Temple,  and  especially  the  Ark. 
At  the  same  time  we  must  not  suppose  that  Jeremiah 
contemplated  the  summary  and  entire  abolition  of  the 
previous  dispensation.  He  simply  delivers  his  latest 
message  from  Jehovah,  without  bringing  its  contents 
into  relation  with  earlier  truth,  without  indeed  waiting 
to  ascertain  for  himself  how  the  old  and  the  new  were 
to  be  combined.  But  we  may  be  sure  that  the  Divine 
writing  on  the  heart  would  have  included  much  that 
was  already  written  in  Deuteronomy,  and  that  both 
books  and  teachers  would  have  had  their  place  in 
helping  men  to  recognise  and  interpret  the  inner 
leadings  of  the  Spirit. 

In  rising  from  the  perusal  of  these  chapters  the 
reader  is  tempted  to  use  the  prophet's  words  with  a 
somewhat  different  meaning :  ^'  I  awaked  and  looked 
about  me,  and  felt  that  I  had  had  a  pleasant  dream."  ^ 
Renan,  with  cynical  frankness,  heads  a  chapter  on  such 
prophecies  with  the  title  "  Pious  Dreams."  While 
Jeremiah's  glowing  utterances  rivet  our  attention,  the 
gracious  words  fall  like  balm  upon  our  aching  hearts, 
and  we  seem,  like  the  Apostle,  caught  up  into  Paradise. 
But  as  soon  as  we  try  to  connect  our  visions  with  any 
realities,  past,  present,  or  in  prospect,  there  comes  a 
rude  awakening.  The  restored  community  attained  to 
no   New  Covenant,  but  was  only  found  worthy  of  a 

'  xxxi.  26. 


xxx.-xxxiii.]  RESTORATION— V.  REVIEW  359 

fresh  edition  of  the  written  code.  Instead  of  being 
committed  to  the  guidance  of  the  ever-present  Spirit  of 
Jehovah,  they  were  placed  under  a  rigid  and  elaborate 
S3'stem  of  externals — "carnal  ordinances,  concerned 
with  meats  and  drinks  and  divers  washings,  imposed 
until  a  time  of  reformation."^  They  still  remained 
under  the  covenant  "  from  Mount  Sinai,  bearing  children 
unto  bondage,  which  is  Hagar.  Now  this  Hagar  is 
Mount  Sinai  in  Arabia,  and  answereth  to  the  Jerusalem 
that  now  is  :  for  she  is  in  bondage  with  her  children."  ^ 

For  these  bondservants  of  the  letter,  there  arose  no 
David,  no  glorious  Scion  of  the  ancient  stock.  For  a 
moment  the  hopes  of  ZecharialT  rested  on  Zerubbabel, 
but  this  Branch  quickly  withered  away  and  was  for- 
gotten. We  need  not  underrate  the  merits  and  services 
of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  of  Simon  the  Just  and  Judas 
Maccabseus ;  and  yet  we  cannot  find  any  one  of  them 
who  answers  to  the  Priestly  King  of  Jeremiah's  visions. 
The  new  Growth  of  Jewish  royalty  came  to  an  igno- 
minious end  in  Aristobulus,  Hyrcanus,  and  the  Herods, 
Antichrists  rather  than  Messiahs. 

The  Reunion  of  long-divided  Israel  is  for  the  most 
part  a  misnomer ;  there  was  no  healing  of  the  wound, 
and  the  offending  member  was  cut  off. 

Even  now,  when  the  leaven  of  the  Kingdom  has  been 
working  in  the  lump  of  humanity  for  nearly  two  thou- 
sand years,  any  suggestion  that  these  chapters  are 
realised  in  Modern  Christianity  would  seem  cruel  irony. 
Renan  accuses  Christianity  of  having  quickly  forgotten 
the  programme  which  its  Founder  borrowed  from  the 
prophets,  and  of  having  become  a  religion  like  other 
religions,  a  religion  of  priests  and  sacrifices,  of  external 

'  Heb.  ix.  10.  2  Qai_  iv.  24,  25. 


\/ 


36o  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

observances  and  superstitions.^  It  is  sometimes  asserted 
that  Protestants  lack  faith  and  courage  to  trust  to  any 
law  written  on  the  heart,  and  cling  to  a  printed  book, 
as  if  there  were  no  Holy  Spirit — as  if  the  Branch  of 
David  had  borne  fruit  once  for  all,  and  Christ  were 
dead.  The  movement  for  Christian  Reunion  seems 
thus  far  chiefly  to  emphasise  the  feuds  that  make  the 
Church  a  kingdom  divided  against  itself. 

But  we  must  not  allow  the  obvious  shortcomings  of 
Christendom  to  blind  us  to  brighter  aspects  of  truth. 
Both  in  the  Jews  of  the  Restoration  and  in  the  Church  of 
Christ  we  have  a  real  fulfilment  of  Jeremiah's  prophecies. 
The  fulfilment  is  no  less  real  because  it  is  utterly  inade- 
quate. Prophecy  is  a  guide-post  and  not  a  mile-stone ; 
it  shows  the  way  to  be  trodden,  not  the  duration  of  the 
journey.  Jews  and  Christians  have  fulfilled  Jeremiah's 
prophecies  because  they  have  advanced  by  the  road  along 
which  he  pointed  towards  the  spiritual  city  of  his  vision. 
The  "  pious  dreams  "  of  a  little  group  of  enthusiasts  have 
become  the  ideals  and  hopes  of  humanity.  Even  Renan 
ranks  himself  among  the  disciples  of  Jeremiah :  "  The 
seed  sown  in  religious  tradition  by  inspired  Israelites 
will  not  perish ;  all  of  us  who  seek  a  God  without 
priests,  a  revelation  without  prophets,  a  covenant 
written  in  the  heart,  are  in  many  respects  the  disciples 
of  these  ancient  fanatics  {ces  vieiix  egares)^  ^ 

The  Judaism  of  the  Return,  with  all  its  faults  and 
shortcomings,  was  still  an  advance  in  the  direction 
Jeremiah  had  indicated.  Hov/ever  ritualistic  the  Penta- 
teuch may  seem  to  us,  it  was  far  removed  from  exclusive 
trust  in  ritual.  Where  the  ancient  Israelite  had  relied 
upon  correct  observance  of  the  forms  of  his  sanctuary, 

1  Hisioire  dii  Penple  d' Israel,  iii.,  340.  -  Renan,  iii,,  340. 


xxx.-xxxiii.]         RESTORATION— V.  REVIEW  361 

the  Torah  of  Ezra  introduced  a  large  moral  and  spiritual 
element,  which  served  to  bring  the  soul  into  direct 
fellowship  with  Jehovah.  ''  Pity  and  humanity  are 
pushed  to  their  utmost  limits,  always  of  course  in  the 
bosom  of  the  family  of  Israel."^  The  Torah  moreover 
included  the  great  commands  to  love  God  and  man, 
which  once  for  all  placed  the  religion  of  Israel  on  a 
spiritual  basis.  If  the  Jews  often  attached  more  im- 
portance to  the  letter  and  form  of  Revelation  than  to 
its  substance,  and  were  more  careful  for  ritual  and 
external  observances  than  for  inner  righteousness,  we 
have  no  right  to  cast  a  stone  at  them. 

It  is  a  curious  phenomenon  that  after  the  time  of 
Ezra  the  further  developments  of  the  Torah  were 
written  no  longer  on  parchment,  but,  in  a  certain  sense, 
on  the  heart.  The  decisions  of  the  rabbis  interpreting 
the  Pentateuch,  *'  the  fence  which  they  made  round  the 
law,"  were  not  committed  to  writing,  but  learnt  by  heart 
and  handed  down  by  oral  tradition.  Possibly  this 
custom  was  partly  due  to  Jeremiah's  prophecy.  It  is 
a  strange  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  theology 
sometimes  wrests  the  Scriptures  to  its  own  destruction, 
that  the  very  prophecy  of  the  triumph  of  the  spirit 
over  the  letter  was  made  of  none  effect  by  a  literal 
interpretation. 

Nevertheless,  though  Judaism  moved  only  a  very 
little  way  towards  Jeremiah's  ideal,  yet  it  did  move, 
its  religion  was  distinctly  more  spiritual  than  that  of 
ancient  Israel.  Although  Judaism  claimed  finality  and 
did  its  best  to  secure  that  no  future  generation  should 
make  further  progress,  yet  in  spite  of,  nay,  even  by 
means  of,  Pharisee  and  Sadducee,  the  Jews  were  pre- 

*  Renan,  iii.,  425. 


362  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

pared  to  receive   and  transmit  that  great  resurrection 
of  prophetic  teaching  which  came  through  Christ. 

If  even  Judaism  did  not  altogether  fail  to  conform 
itself  to  Jeremiah's  picture  of  the  New  Israel,  clearly 
Christianity  must  have  shaped  itself  still  more  fully 
according  to  his  pattern.  In  the  Old  Testament  both 
the  idea  and  the  name  of  a  ^'  New  Covenant,"  ^  super- 
seding that  of  Moses,  are  pecuHar  to  Jeremiah,  and 
the  New  Testament  consistently  represents  the  Christian 
dispensation  as  a  fulfilment  of  Jeremiah's  prophecy. 
Besides  the  express  and  detailed  application  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  Christ  instituted  the  Lord's 
Supper  as  the  Sacrament  of  His  New  Covenant — 
"  This  cup  is  the  New  Covenant  in  My  blood  " ;  ^  and 
St.  Paul  speaks  of  himself  as  "a  minister  of  the  New 
Covenant."^  Christianity  has  not  been  unworthy  of 
the  claim  made  on  its  behalf  by  its  Founder,  but  has 
realised,  at  any  rate  in  some  measure,  the  visible  peace, 
prosperity,  and  unity  of  Jeremiah's.  New  Israel,  as  well 
as  the  spirituality  of  his  New  Covenant.  Christendom 
has  its  hideous  blots  of  misery  and  sin,  but,  on  the 
whole,  the  standard  of  material  comfort  and  intellectual 
culture  has  been  raised  to  a  high  average  throughout 
the  bulk  of  a  vast  population.  Internal  order  and 
international  concord  have  made  enormous  strides  since 
the  time  of  Jeremiah.     If  an  ancient   Israelite  could 

^  We  have  the  idea  of  a  spiritual  covenant  in  Isa.  lix.  21,  "This 
is  My  covenant  with  them :  .  .  .  My  spirit  that  is  upon  thee,  and 
My  words  which  I  have  put  in  thy  mouth,  shall  not  depart  out  of 
thy  mouth,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor  out  of  the  mouth 
of  thy  seed's  seed,  .  .  .  from  henceforth  and  for  ever " ;  but  nothing 
is  said  as  to  a  new  covenant. 

^  Luke  xxii.  20;  i  Cor.  xi.  25.  The  word  "new"  is  omitted  by 
Codd.  Sin.  and  Vat.  and  the  R.V.  in  Matt.  xxvi.  28  and  Mark  xiv.  24. 

^  2  Cor.  iii.  6. 


xxx.-xxxiii.]         RESTORATION— V.  REVIEW  363 

witness  the  happy  security  of  a  large  proportion  of 
English  workmen  and  French  peasants,  he  would  think 
that  man}^  of  the  predictions  of  his  prophets  had  been 
fulfilled.  But  the  advance  of  large  classes  to  a  pros- 
perity once  beyond  the  dreams  of  the  most  sanguine 
only  brings  out  in  darker  relief  the  wretchedness  of 
their  less  fortunate  brethren.  In  view  of  the  growing 
knowledge  and  enormous  resources  of  modern  society, 
any  toleration  of  its  cruel  wrongs  is  an  unpardonable 
sin.  Social  problems  are  doubtless  urgent  because  a 
large  minority  are  miserable,  but  they  are  rendered 
still  more  urgent  by  the  luxury  of  many  and  the  comfort 
of  most.  The  high  average  of  prosperity  shows  that 
we  fail  to  right  our  social  evils,  not  for  want  of  power, 
but  for  want  of  devotion.  Our  civilisation  is  a  Dives, 
at  whose  gate  Lazarus  often  finds  no  crumbs. 

Again  Christ's  Kingdom  of  the  New  Covenant  has 
brought  about  a  larger  unity.  We  have  said  enough 
elsewhere  on  the  divisions  of  the  Church.  Doubtless  we 
are  still  far  from  realising  the  ideals  of  chapter  xxxi., 
but,  at  any  rate,  they  have  been  recognised  as 
supreme,  and  have  worked  for  harmony  and  fellow- 
ship in  the  world.  Ephraim  and  Judah  are  forgotten, 
but  the  New  Covenant  has  united  into  brotherhood 
a  worldwide  array  of  races  and  nations.  There  are 
still  divisions  in  the  Church,  and  a  common  religion 
will  not  always  do  away  with  national  enmities;  but 
in  spite  of  all,  the  influence  of  our  common  Christianity 
has  done  much  to  knit  the  nations  together  and  promote 
mutual  amity  and  goodwill.  The  vanguard  of  the 
modern  world  has  accepted  Christ  as  its  standard  and 
ideal,  and  has  thus  attained  an  essential  unity,  which 
is  not  destroyed  by  minor  differences  and  external 
divisions. 


364  THE  BOOK   OF  JEREMIAH 

And,  finally,  the  promise  that  the  New  Covenant 
should  be  written  on  the  heart  is  far  on  the  way 
towards  fulfilment.  If  Roman  and  Greek  orthodoxy 
interposes  the  Church  between  the  soul  and  Christ, 
yet  the  inspiration  claimed  for  the  Church  to-day  is, 
at  any  rate  in  some  measure,  that  of  the  living  Spirit 
of  Christ  speaking  to  the  souls  of  living  men.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  predilection  for  Rabbinical  methods  of 
exegesis  sometimes  interferes  with  the  influence  and 
authority  of  the  Bible.  Yet  in  reaHty  there  is  no 
serious  attempt  to  take  away  the  key  of  knowledge 
or  to  forbid  the  individual  soul  to  receive  the  direct 
teaching  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Reformers  established 
the  right  of  private  judgment  in  the  interpretation  of 
the  Scriptures ;  and  the  interpretation  of  the  Library 
of  Sacred  Literature,  the  spiritual  harvest  of  a  thousand 
years,  affords  ample  scope  for  reverent  development 
of  our  knowledge  of  God. 

One  group  of  Jeremiah's  prophecies  has  indeed  been 
entirely  fulfilled.  In  Christ,  God  has  raised  up  a 
Branch  of  Righteousness  unto  David,  and  through 
Him  judgment  and  righteousness  are  wrought  in  the 
earth. 

'  xxxiii.  15. 


EPILOGUE 


365 


CHAPTER   XXXV 

JEREMIAH  AND   CHRIST 

"Jehovah  thy  God  will  raise  up  unto  thee  a  prophet  from  amongst 
thee,  of  thy  brethren,  like  unto  me;  unto  him  shall  ye  hearken." — 
Deut.  xviii.  15. 

"  Jesus  .  .  .  asked  His  disciples,  saying.  Who  do  men  say  that  the 
Son  of  Man  is  ?  And  they  said,  Som.e  say  John  the  Baptist ;  some, 
Elijah :  and  others,  Jeremiah,  or  one  of  the  prophets." — Matt.  xvi. 
13»  14. 

ENGLISH  feeling  about  Jeremiah  has  long  ago 
been  summed  up  and  stereotyped  in  the  single 
word  ''jeremiad."  The  contempt  and  dislike  which 
this  word  implies  are  partly  due  to  his  supposed 
authorship  of  Lamentations  ;  but,  to  say  the  least,  the 
Book  of  Jeremiah  is  not  sufficiently  cheerful  to  remove 
the  impression  created  by  the  linked  wailing,  long 
drawn  out,  which  has  been  commonly  regarded  as  an 
appendix  to  its  prophecies.  We  can  easily  understand 
the  unpopularity  of  the  prophet  of  doom  in  modern 
Christendom.  Such  prophets  are  seldom  acceptable, 
except  to  the  enemies  of  the  people  whom  they  de- 
nounce ;  and  even  ardent  modern  advocates  of  Jew- 
baiting  would  not  be  entirely  satisfied  with  Jeremiah 
— they  would  resent  his  patriotic  sympathy  with  sinful 
and  suffering  Judah.  Most  modern  Christians  have 
ceased  to  regard  the  Jews  as  monsters  of  iniquity,  whose 
chastisement  should  give  profound  satisfaction  to  every 
sincere  believer.     History  has  recorded  but  few  of  the 

367 


368  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

crimes  which  provoked  and  justified  our  prophet's  fierce 
indignation,  and  those  of  which  we  do  read  repel  our 
interest  by  a  certain  lack  of  the  picturesque,  so  that 
we  do  not  take  the  trouble  to  realise  their  actual  and 
intense  wickedness.  Ahab  is  a  by-word,  but  how  many 
people  know  anything  about  Ishmael  ben  Nethaniah  ? 
The  cruelty  of  the  nobles  and  the  unctuous  cant  of  their 
prophetic  allies  are  forgotten  in — nay,  they  seem  almost 
atoned  for  by — the  awful  calamities  that  befell  Judah 
and  Jerusalem.  Jeremiah's  memory  may  even  be  said 
to  have  suffered  from  the  speedy  and  complete  fulfil- 
ment of  his  prophecies.  The  national  ruin  was  a 
triumphant  vindication  of  his  teaching,  and  his  disciples 
were  eager  to  record  every  utterance  in  which  he  had 
foretold  the  coming  doom.  Probably  the  book,  in  its 
present  form,  gives  an  exaggerated  impression  of  the 
stress  which  Jeremiah  laid  upon  this  topic. 

Moreover,  while  the  prophet's  life  is  essentially 
tragic,  its  drama  lacks  an  artistic  close  and  climax. 
Again  and  again  Jeremiah  took  his  fife  in  his  hand,  but 
the  good  confession  which  he  witnessed  for  so  long 
does  not  culminate  in  the  crown  of  martyrdom.  A 
final  scene  like  the  death  of  John  the  Baptist  would 
have  won  our  sympathy  and  conciliated  our  criticism. 

We  thus  gather  that  the  popular  attitude  towards 
Jeremiah  rests  on  a  superficial  appreciation  of  his 
character  and  work  ;  it  is  not  difficult  to  discern  that 
a  careful  examination  of  his  history  establishes  im- 
portant claims  on  the  veneration  and  gratitude  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

For  Judaism  was  not  slow  to  pay  her  tribute  of 
admiration  and  reverence  to  Jeremiah  as  to  a  Patron 
Saint  and  Confessor.  His  prophecy  of  the  Restoration 
of  Israel  is  appealed  to  in  Ezra  and  Daniel ;  and  the 


JEREMIAH  AND  CHRIST  369 

Hebrew  Chronicler,  who  says  as  httle  as  he  can  of 
Isaiah,  adds  to  the  references  made  by  the  Book  of 
Kings  to  Jeremiah.  We  have  already  seen  that  apocry- 
phal legends  clustered  round  his  honoured  name.  He 
was  credited  with  having  concealed  the  Tabernacle  and 
the  Ark  in  the  caves  of  Sinai.-^  On  the  eve  of  a  great 
victory,  he  appeared  to  Judas  Maccabaeus,  in  a  vision, 
as  "  a  man  distinguished  by  grey  hairs,  and  a  majestic 
appearance ;  but  something  wonderful  and  exceedingly 
magnificent  was  the  grandeur  about  him,"  and  was 
made  known  to  Judas  as  a  ''lover  of  the  brethren,  who 
prayeth  much  for  the  people  and  for  the  holy  city,  to 
wit,  Jeremiah  the  prophet  of  God.  And  Jeremiah 
stretching  forth  his  right  hand  delivered  over  to  Judas 
a  sword  of  gold."  ^  The  Son  of  Sirach  does  not  fail  to 
include  Jeremiah  in  his  praise  of  famous  men ;  ^  and 
there  is  an  apocryphal  epistle  purporting  to  be  written 
by  our  prophet.*  It  is  noteworthy  that  in  the  New 
Testament  Jeremiah  is  only  mentioned  by  name  in  the 
Judaistic  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew. 

In  the  Christian  Church,  notwithstanding  the  lack  of 
popular  sympathy,  earnest  students  of  the  prophet's  Hfe 
and  words  have  ranked  him  with  some  of  the  noblest 
characters  of  history.  A  modern  writer  enumerates 
as  amongst  those  with  whom  he  has  been  compared 
Cassandra,  Phocion,  Demosthenes,  Dante,  Milton,  and 
Savonarola.^  The  list  might  easily  be  enlarged,  but 
another  parallel  has  been  drawn  which  has  supreme 
claims  on  our  consideration.     The  Jews  in  New  Testa- 

'  2  Mace.  ii.  1-8. 
^  2  Mace.  XV.  12-16. 
'  Eeelus.  xlix.  6,  7. 

*  Sometimes  appended  to  the  Book  of  Baruch  as  a  sixth  chapter. 

*  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  art.  "  Jeremiah." 

24 


370  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

ment  times  looked  for  the  return  of  Elijah  or  Jeremiah 
to  usher  in  Messiah's  reign  ;  and  it  seemed  to  some 
among  them  that  the  character  and  teaching  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  identified  him  with  the  ancient  prophet 
who  had  been  commissioned  "to  root  out,  pull  down, 
destroy  and  throw  down,  to  build  and  to  plant."  The 
suggested  comparison  has  often  been  developed,  but 
undue  stress  has  been  laid  on  such  accidental  and 
external  circumstances  as  the  prophet's  celibacy  and 
the  statement  that  he  was  "  sanctified  from  the  womb." 
The  discussion  of  such  details  does  not  greatly  lend 
itself  to  edification.  But  it  has  also  been  pointed  out 
that  there  is  an  essential  resemblance  between  the  cir- 
cumstances and  mission  of  Jeremiah  and  his  Divine 
Successor,  and  to  this  some  little  space  may  be 
devoted. 

Jeremiah  and  our  Lord  appeared  at  similar  crises  in 
the  history  of  Israel  and  of  revealed  religion.  The 
prophet  foretold  the  end  of  the  Jewish  monarchy,  the 
destruction  of  the  First  Temple  and  of  ancient  Jeru- 
salem ;  Christ,  in  like  manner,  announced  the  end  of 
the  restored  Israel,  the  destruction  of  the  Second 
Temple  and  of  the  newer  Jerusalem.  In  both  cases 
the  doom  of  the  city  was  followed  by  the  dispersion 
and  captivity  of  the  people.  At  both  eras  the  religion 
of  Jehovah  was  supposed  to  be  indissolubly  bound  up 
with  the  Temple  and  its  ritual ;  and,  as  we  have  seen, 
Jeremiah,  like  Stephen  and  Paul  and  our  Lord  Himself, 
was  charged  with  blasphemy  because  he  predicted  its 
coming  ruin.  The  prophet,  like  Christ,  was  at  variance 
with  the  prevalent  religious  sentiment  of  his  time  and 
with  what  claimed  to  be  orthodoxy.  Both  were  regarded 
and  treated  by  the  great  body  of  contemporary  religious 
teachers  as   dangerous   and  intolerable  heretics;   and 


JEREMIAH  AND   CHRIST  371 

their  heresy,  as  we  have  said,  was  practically  one  and 
the  same.  To  the  champions  of  the  Temple,  their 
teaching  seemed  purely  destructive,  an  irreverent  attack 
upon  fundamental  doctrines  and  indispensable  institu- 
tions. But  the  very  opposite  was  the  truth ;  they  de- 
stroyed nothing  but  what  deserved  to  perish.  Both  in 
Jeremiah's  time  and  in  our  Lord's,  men  tried  to  assure 
themselves  of  the  permanence  of  erroneous  dogmas  and 
obsolete  rites  by  proclaiming  that  these  were  of  the 
essence  of  Divine  Revelation.  In  either  age  to  succeed 
in  this  effort  would  have  been  to  plunge  the  world  into 
spiritual  darkness  :  the  light  of  Hebrew  prophecy  would 
have  been  extinguished  by  the  Captivity,  or,  again,  the 
hope  of  the  Messiah  would  have  melted  away  like  a 
mirage,  when  the  legions  of  Titus  and  Hadrian  dispelled 
so  many  Jewish  dreams.  But  before  the  catastrophe 
came,  Jeremiah  had  taught  men  that  Jehovah's  Temple 
and  city  were  destroyed  of  His  own  set  purpose,  because 
of  the  sins  of  His  people ;  there  was  no  excuse  for 
supposing  that  He  was  discredited  by  the  ruin  of  the 
place  where  He  had  once  chosen  to  set  His  Name. 
Thus  the  Captivity  was  not  the  final  page  in  the  history 
of  Hebrew  religion,  but  the  opening  of  a  new  chapter. 
In  like  manner  Christ  and  His  Apostles,  more  especially 
Paul,  finally  dissociated  Revelation  from  the  Temple 
and  its  ritual,  so  that  the  light  of  Divine  truth  was  not 
hidden  under  the  bushel  of  Judaism,  but  shone  forth 
upon  the  whole  world  from  the  many-branched  candle- 
stick of  the  Universal  Church. 

Again,  in  both  cases,  not  only  was  ancient  faith 
rescued  from  the  ruin  of  human  corruption  and  com- 
mentary, but  the  purging  away  of  the  old  leaven  made 
room  for  a  positive  statement  of  new  teaching.  Jeremiah 
announced  a  new  covenant — ^that  is,  a  formal  and  com- 


372  THE  BOOK  OF  JEREMIAH 

plete  change  in  the  conditions  and  method  of  man's 
service  to  God  and  God's  beneficence  to  men.  The 
ancient  Church,  with  its  sanctuary,  its  clergy,  and  its 
ritual,  was  to  be  superseded  by  a  new  order,  without 
sanctuary,  clergy,  or  ritual,  wherein  every  man  would 
enjoy  immediate  fellowship  with  his  God.  This  great 
ideal  was  virtually  ignored  by  the  Jews  of  the  Restora- 
tion, but  it  was  set  forth  afresh  by  Christ  and  His 
Apostles.  The  "  New  Covenant "  was  declared  to  be 
ratified  by  His  sacrifice,  and  was  confirmed  anew  at 
every  commemoration  of  His  death.  We  read  in 
John  iv.  21-23:  "The  hour  cometh,  when  neither  in 
this  mountain,  nor  in  Jerusalem,  shall  ye  worship  the 
Father.  .  .  .  The  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the 
true  worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and 
truth." 

Thus  when  we  confess  that  the  Church  is  built  upon 
the  foundation  of  the  Prophets  and  Apostles,  we  have 
to  recognise  that  to  this  foundation  Jeremiah's  ministry 
supphed  indispensable  elements,  aUke  by  its  positive 
and  in  its  negative  parts.  This  fact  was  manifest  even 
to  Renan,  who  fully  shared  the  popular  prejudices 
against  Jeremiah.  Nothing  short  of  Christianity, 
according  to  him,  is  the  realisation  of  the  prophet's 
dream :  *'  II  ajoute  un  facteur  essentiel  a  I'oeuvre 
humaine ;  Jdremie  est,  avant  Jean-Baptiste,  I'homme 
qui  a  le  plus  contribue  a  la  fondation  du  Christianisme ; 
11  doit  compter,  malgre  la  distance  des  siecles,  entre 
les  precurseurs  immediats  de  Jesus."  ^ 

•  Hist,  iii.,  251,  305. 


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